Masked Contritence
by Familiar47
Summary: In the future, with the empire fractured, an Irken bounty hunter is forced to take a side when his estranged family is threatened by a mysterious new Tallest with powers beyond anything seen before.
1. New Age

Masked Contritence

Invader Zim is property of Jhonen Vasquez.

Rikalo is that happy gunslinger type Irken with the southern accent that we all love. He never frowns for long, her never cries or loses his cool, and he is always on the job...but what if that wasn't true? What if every smirk, every joke, every single time he flirted or went on a mission 'for kicks' was all a distraction for himself and a mask against all others? Well let's see the real story of Rikalo 'Rik' and the journey he will undertake to change the lives of many.

I will be trying my hand at making the story much darker than my usual works.

Also this was inspired by Serenity, Andromeda Ascendant, and Deathstalker. I do not own any of these.

Xxx

"_I hate you Rik!" She screamed as he moved further and further from the warm glow of the home that had been his for years. She did not truly mean what she said, Rik didn't delude himself by thinking she wasn't at least pissed at him. It was not hatred that did this to them, drive him to walk further and further away from her, it was fear and sorrow. Rik wished that he had never grown to be a 'defective Irken', a class of Irken capable of feeling emotion and having thoughts less than loyal to the empire itself._

_Essentially he had more than the half brain the average Irken possessed._

"_D-daddy!" The distressed voice caused Rik to turn against his will and look up at the windows of the second story of the house. Two smeets stared back at him; one a green eyed boy who was the oldest, and a younger red eyed Irken who was barely a year old by now._

"_Go back to sleep kids!" He called._

"_Why are you going?" Even though Ouri, the red eyed smeet barely spoke loud enough to be heard, to Rik he may as well have wailed the question from right next to him._

"_Fren, take your brother and go back to sleep! Now!" Rik sounded harsher than he meant to. He knew that Ouri was crying while Fren, the older green eyed smeet moved his brother out of sight of the window. Moments later Fren came back, and his eyes pierced Rik as good as any spear could have._

"_I'm sorry Fren!" He shouted. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry and I love you and Ouri and De! Don't you ever forget that!"_

_Fren was wiping his eyes. "I won't forget daddy! I won't! I promise!"_

_And then Rik committed what he felt was his greatest crime ever. Every heist, murder, beating, blackmailing and other crimes against multiple individuals in his career as a bounty hunter-and Arcani before that paled in comparison. He could forgive himself for all of those after time, but he never forgave himself for this one._

_He turned his back on his family and left._

Xxx

_**You think that the galaxy is bright. You think there are glistening cities with wonderful people and benevolent rulers or some galactic super power that abolishes slavery and spends time and money helping people...**_

_**Not in this one. Do you recall Invader Zim? That cheerful little wannabe soldier whom you all watch for fun? He was in perhaps the best place in the galaxy, away from the true evil. This is decades past that time, perhaps a few years from the point of view of Rikalo. The Irken Empire, despite its warmongering was perhaps the only way a galactic wide order would be established, even if it was an Irken supremacist order.**_

_**But now even it is failing, slowly as Irkens naturally grow taller and smeeteries crank out more 'Defective' Irkens the Tallests found it harder to hold onto power. Then Purple was assassinated, and Red took supreme control. Then one Irken, the same height as Red popped up near the front lines and rallied millions of Irken soldiers to his cause. Then another 'Tallest', and soon over a dozen individual Irken Nations were formed, all of them at war with one another.**_

_**The one thing they have in common: Perfection or death.**_

_**Most planets are either wastelands with walled cities constructed for gluttonous inhabitants, maybe a few with small settlements on the outer parts of known space. Others might be untouched, wisely designated as 'Agricultural Planets' that are not used except for periodically ripping up vegetation. Sometimes they breed massive amounts of animals-or clone them in order to feed the galactic population. Well rest assured, despite the barbarianism, everybody is careful not to destroy one of these precious worlds; everybody wants them intact, but they want them for themselves.**_

_**We will be going to the outskirts of known space, to a planet known simply as T3, or Tebenira III. It was found and settled by many tribes of settlers. Now war lords control multiple territories, with Wilds between each territory. Few dare to wander these sands due to the sheer amount of bandits, fights between War Lords, the automated attack drones set to attack on sight, the natural predators, and worst of all...**_

_**Mercenaries from off world, with actual weaponry that was somewhat up to date. These mercenaries also had a ship with them, a blocky freighter modified with armour and some guns. It was big enough to hold perhaps a dozen crew continuously, but only five mercenaries stood outside. The leader is a Veniran, a hulking alien once part of the Honoured Veniran Empire, the only true competition for Irk until the construction of the deadly Massive. His raptor-esque legs, his clawed hands and feet, his whip like tail and many sharp teeth gave him a mix of animal features. One was his head, which looked like a dog without fur but dark grey skin and black hair on the top.**_

_**The other four were a mix of species. A Vortian stood off to the far left, holding a rifle of sorts that looked to be older than him. Next to him was a tall brown skinned alien that was insect like in appearance, with a carapace that shined in the light covering him, and beady black eyes staring out on the horizon. The third was an alien that had light blue skin and black hair, legs like a Vortian's except ending in deadly claws, and four arms: a Ribarban, one of the most common mercenary types since one of the Irken Nations literally destroyed Ribarb Prime.**_

_**The final mercenary had four legs, almost like a crab of sorts. They were tipped with scythe like blades, most likely artificially added, and his upper body resembled that of a normal human in shape. He wore black armour that hid all of his features, but it did not hide the stinger at the back of his lower body.**_

_**The ship is nestled in a little valley that opens up to the plains where War Lords constantly battle for control. In the hills around them are two more mercenaries with long range rifles. They are trusted marksmen, both of the Ribarban soldiers at one point.**_

_**They all see something approaching on the horizon. The Veniran looks to his team and nods; a signal. They do not reply, their eyes locked on the two approaching figures...**_

_**Irkens, all three of them, and that is usually enough to grab a gun and open fire in this day and age. If anybody did not hate Irken kind before, they certainly did now.**_

_**Let us have a closer look at these nine individuals and watch destiny unfold...**_

Xxx

"You're late!" The Veniran barked viciously as the three Irkens stopped fifteen feet from the group.

"We're not," One of the Irkens replied. He is the tallest of the trio, clad in boots, dark pants, a long sleeved but most likely thin red shirt and a short sleeved coat that reached his mid thighs. It also had a hood on that hid his face thanks to the angle of the sun causing it to be shadowed. "We saw your sentry watching us when we set down an hour ago, precisely three hours ahead of schedule. And we picked up the transmission he sent. That you say this to us means that you want us to be on the defensive, and you wish to intimidate us so we will do something that grants you a better result from this."

The Irken slowly reached into his coat pocket, making the mercenaries tense until he pulled out a small lighter and brought it up to his hidden mouth, which had an unlit cigarette propped between its lips. He lit it, cupping one hand around it against the wind, and pocketed the lighter. "Now, my only thought is that you do this ether because you're scared...or you think you have an advantage that will allow you to dominate this arrangement. Am I right?"

"Stop talking," The Veniran grumbled. "Do you have what we want?"

The Irken pulled aside his coat and revealed a small cylinder that he tossed to the Veniran, who caught it. It had the mark of one of the Irken production companies, from the Irken Nation of Tallest Blood, named because of his love of torturing his enemies personally. It was an energy cell for a standard irken energy rifle, the PER-14.

"There's approximately nineteen hundred-ninety nine more of those, just as requested," The Irken replied, adopting a relaxed pose. "And you will be given their location when I see my reward. It wasn't easy to take these and assure that they won't be traced to you or your boss."

The Veniran tossed it to the Ribarban woman, who produced a PER-14 from a satchel on her back and slid the energy cylinder into the bottom of the energy rifle. She aimed it off into the distance and fired three times. The shots struck three targets set up in advance, all in the shape of an Irken and wearing old and dented Irken armour. All three are incinerated instantly.

"It's good," She nodded to her leader, who produced a small pouch from his pockets and tossed it towards the Irken leader, who started forward and caught it before it could fall short.

"Alright, you've made good and so shall I," The Irken nodded. "East of here you'll find a red stack of smoke in five minutes. I set a flare on a jury rigged timer so that when it pops up you'll know where to go with your ship. It's in a field as big as this one, and the place to dig is carefully marked. And as requested our ship is ten miles back so if we try to scam you, y'all can come and chat with us about correcting our behaviours."

"Good," The Veniran's mouth curled into a vicious sneer, the revolting effect fuelled by the battle scars he had. "Now...I'll have my money back."

"...beg pardon?"

"Our boss wouldn't be happy if we gave money to Irkens," The Vortian mercenary spat on the ground. "He'd string us up and skin us alive."

"What do we do?" It was the second tallest Irken of the group, a female with vibrant red eyes and developed curves. She wore what seemed to be a variation of a flight suit, with red boots and pants. Her shirt was long sleeved and purple with red sleeves, and left the skin of her hips reveal for all to see. She wore red gloves to complete her theme.

"..." The leader tossed the money bag back to the Veniran. "You know it's bad luck to skip out on a deal, right?"

"Worse luck to condone Irkens walking on our planet," The crab like alien spoke, producing a series of clicks and hisses that his helmet translated for him in monotone. "The last group to do that...well you'd have seen them, your landing zone is right where our boss left the ruins of their town."

The Irken leader nodded. "Yep, I reckoned they were there for a reason. Women and kids too, your boss is thorough."

"So you see...in the interest of self preservation," The Veniran slowly produced a pistol. "We can't let you walk out of this valley alive."

The Irken leader sighed. "...of course." Hs eyes travelled to the Ribarban woman. "...only one Ribarban in this outfit? Now that just ain't right," He ignored the fact that an energy rifle and three more guns were aimed at him now. "I'd wager you have some more of your kind hidden over in them hills off to our left. Plenty of hiding spots and the sun makes it all the harder to see anybody." He slowly took off his hood, revealing a red eyed Irken man who spat his cigarette out and stomped on it. "Say hi to them for me."

Then the crab alien's torso suddenly exploded, showering blood and bits of bone on his companions. This had such a startling effect that when all three of the Irkens drew their weapons the mercenaries had little time to counter attack. The leader held a single energy pistol that was in surprisingly good shape despite being a decades old model, and with it he shot the Ribarban woman in the head as she tried to aim at him. The Vortian merc fired his old rifle, spraying bullets onto the sand as the third Irken, a purple eyed male extended his four PAK legs and formed a shield that deflected the bullets that came close. This allowed the female Irken to draw a small Irken carbine-again red from her pack and fire it twice, blowing a hole in the Vortians chest and head in order.

The insect alien was rushing for cover when the hidden shooter fired again, and its head exploded into slime that stained the hull of the ship. The Veniran had reached cover however, at a rock under the ship that protected him from both the Irkens and the sniper based off of where the shots had come from. "You put your guns down! I've got the advantage from this spot and your little sniper can't get me here!"

The female Irken looked to the leader, who sighed irritably and raised his pistol.

DOW! It hit a part of the ship above the Veniran...specifically where the entry ramp was. The Irken repeated this pattern, confusing the Veniran until the whole entry ramp fell free! It landed on the Veniran, pinning him by his lower body under its weight and shattering the bones in his legs. He screamed as his gun fell from his hands. With the final mercenary neutralized, the Irken walked over to the fallen Veniran. A fourth shape, this one also a Veniran came out of the hills, carrying a rifle taken off of the Ribarban snipers. This one was younger than the mercenary, but a lot healthier looking and had longer hair.

The Irken leader set one foot on the chest of the fallen Veniran, his gun aimed down at the mercenary's face. He fired three times...and the Veniran opened his eyes and realized there was a small crater to the left and right of his head along with one just above it.

"Now, I have been victim to many crude and unwelcome comments in my line of work, generally referring to the nature of my character ranging from my capacity as a business partner to that of a man. Many of these originated from you, your associates, and some of mine as well. So allow me to explain to you the protocol of my vocation." He holstered the gun. "First, I willingly agree to participate in a required task when promised an amount of payment to compensate for my effort. Second, I fulfill the task and meet the expectations of my client. And third," He reached down and snatched the money bag back from the Veniran, and then punched him so hard that his law was dislocated. "_I am paid_, you monie pinching prick."

He stood up as the Veniran groaned in pain. "Your friends will be by in an hour or so when you don't show up. Maybe if you're lucky they'll let you live to fight another day." He pocketed the money and looked to his team. "Good job Elay," He nodded to the red clad Irken. "Credaran," the dark haired Veniran. "Lerak." The purple eyed Irken.

"These things are never uneventful with you, are they Rik?" Elay asked, one hand on her right hip as she smirked at her leader.

Rikalo 'Rik' shrugged. "I like a flashy entrance. Call the ship down and let's get a move on. I'm sick of this heat and the local hospitality already." He pulled his hood back up over his head and pulled another cigarette from a box in his jacket pocket. Lighting it, he watched as his ship, the Ranger flew in from over the hills and landed nearby. When the ramp came down, the four of them stepped onto the ship, and shut the hatch behind them as it took off.

"So, do we go and retrieve the loot also?" Credaran asked once the roar of the wind was muffled.

"Nah," Rik shook his head. "Would take up too much room and we need all we can for future jobs. Plus we've been paid anyways. And unlike our gentlemen friends back there we are obliged to keep up our end of the deal."

"That whole 'mercenary protocol' thing is a bit...unnecessary Captain," Credaran phrased his words carefully. "Plenty of other freelancers would string us up for next to nothing."

"We're not 'other' freelancers though," Rik replied as they reached the bridge. "You're 'my' freelancers and as long as you are a part of my crew you will abide by my rules and methods."

"Alright, alright," Credaran replied defensively. "I wasn't complaining. I'll follow your lead."

"Can you ever make a deal without starting a gun fight, Rik?" The pilot slowly turned in his chair, revealing a green eyed Irken who was heavily scarred. His right eye was gone, covered by a black eye patch. His right arm was also replaced by a robotic arm with claw tips. Forty years ago Loe was thin, wimpy and scared of his own shadow...Rik had hardly recognised the analyst when he saw him five years back. Now Loe was prone to be the most violent of Rik's team, especially when the matter of his old team was brought up...specifically that of Loe's old pilot: Kay.

"I've heard that one before," Rik sat down in his chair. "Give me a link into the Line."

The Line was essentially 'the grape vine' for bounty hunters and assassins these days. It had lists of people who had to die, valuables to be moved, or places to be destroyed. Loe was able to hack into it without any effort at all, skipping the 50 monie fee required to use it. Once it opened, a list of names appeared as part of a holographic interface that floated around Rik's chair. The bounty hunter stood up and examined them all, pausing on one that had a reward for 50 000 monies...

And it had a name on it that Rik thought that he would never hear again: Velrik.

After he had separated from his wife De he had wandered upon another Irken who had caught his interest. It hadn't been the tender care that he had shared with De, but he had genuinely cared for her and vice versa. But she was married...that didn't stop Rik's hormones. The affair bred two more children: Rimak and Lania and resulted in Rik getting a punch to the jaw that he gladly took. He left at Velrik's request on the birth night of his fourth child, second from the wife after being given permission to see Rimak and name him.

The last time he had associated with that half of the family was when he threatened Velrik, saying he would come back and personally kick his ass if Janie or either child was hurt. Ever.

He reached out and tapped the name.

_Please wait..._

_Opening link._

Velrik was one of the common red eyed breed of Irkens like Rik, albeit shorter. He had the symbol of the original Irken Empire-now the Crimson Empire under Tallest Red tattooed to his forehead. When he had a good view of the one who had accepted his contract his eyes narrowed. "Y-you?"

"What kind'a family man has to hire mercenaries?" Rik demanded. "Has something happened to Janie?"

"I-" Velrik hesitated a second too long.

"Talk damn it!" Rik leaped to his feet, fury building within him. "Tell. Me. What. The job is!"

"...It's Janie," Velrik whispered.

The bridge was so silent a pin drop could be heard. The four other members of Rik's crew stared at their Captain as he shook with barely restrained anger. This was out of character for their usually cool and controlled Captain.

"_VRIK NA TISHANTI! KISGAREE SHOO-SHEN!_" Rik roared slamming one fist against the wall next to him...and _denting _the metal. With one quivering arm still pressed against the wall he looked back at Velrik, who recoiled at the condemning nature of Rik's eyes.

"..Where...is she..." Rik asked in a low tone.

"She crashed," Velrik managed to reply. "On Murderworld, in the Crimson Empire outskirts, on the other side of it from where my unit is positioned."

"You're off fighting a war when your wife is on the worst florping planet in the Crimson Quadrant?" Rik demanded. "God _damn it_ Velrik I told you to keep her safe!"

"I DID!" Velrik roared, matching Rik's hostility. "It's _you_ who left her broken you florping man-whore! She is the way she is because of _you!_"

That gave Rik a cause to stop in his righteous fury. "...what?"

"She kept on trying to contact you when Rimak got older," Velrik muttered. "It obsessed her when Rimak got upset, she wanted him to meet his real father, just to be happy. And it didn't help that I had to be away a lot thanks to the new campaigns Tallest Red is forming every year. Every time I came home I'd find a bill showing she tried contacting you hundreds of time and she wouldn't stop holding on to me. She just...couldn't take the two of us being away so much."

Rik let out a breath and felt his knees weaken. "...how did she get there?"

"A week ago she left Irk to go and visit Lania over on Zedia II," Velrik replied. "But she landed on Murderworld instead...I think she's lost it. I want to go and get her but if I leave the front lines I'll be hunted down and executed."

"...don't bother yourself," Rik replied, calmly withdrawing a flask from under his coat and popping it open. Taking several mouthfuls, he relaxed as the powerful alcoholic beverage did its work. He looked at Velrik. "I'll go find her myself. I know plenty of people on Murderworld. Keep your money too."

"Thank you," Velrik whispered. "And...Rimak still wants to find you...he still wants to meet you."

Rik cut the link without giving a reply. His name was now on the list of Bounty Hunters who had accepted the job. And now job offers were closed, thanks to a quick command from Velrik so nobody else called for details.

"Boss? Why did we just turn down 50 000 monies?" Elay asked.

"Shut up," Rik replied bitterly. "We're going to Murderworld."

"Rik...you're letting this get to you," The red eyed woman said cautiously, not wanting to aggravate him.

"No, really?" He glared at her.

"I know...she means a lot to you Rik," Elay continued. "But please...be careful with this."

"...set course for Murderworld, full speed," Rik looked to his damaged chair. "...and get this junk moved outta here. After that gear up, we're going to be on the worst planet in the worst Irken Faction in the galaxy."

The group watched Rik storm out of the bridge.

"...so who is this Janie anyways?" Credaran asked.

"His mistress," Loe replied, tapping in commands into his console. The ship turned, the flash point drive charging up with a hum that was heard throughout the ship. The lights dimmed as the area around the ship shimmered. Then it shrunk in on itself and vanished in a flash of light, taking as long as the blink of an eye.

Xxx

End of chapter!

Xxx

List of OCs acquired for this story

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus (kill-zone)

Kronos (MilukiSama)

Velrik, Belthiad and Zafre (RaynaHero200)


	2. The World Without Law

Masked Contritence

I do not own IZ, Deathstalker, Andromeda Ascendant, or Serenity.

All OCs are property of their respective owners.

Xxx

"_Don't worry little buddy," Rik whispered as he looked down at the newborn smeet. "You'll have mommy here for you...and a man who'll be a better daddy then I'll ever be." He looks around the room once._

_Velrik stands by Janie, who is lying in bed, only an hour fresh from her delivery. The husband has given Rik a lovely bruise on his jaw, and oddly Rik had made no effort to counter even though he had killed people for so much as spitting on him. Perhaps it was for the same reason that Rik had not killed Velrik's two older sons when they had burst into his home earlier on the suspicion that Rik had been the cause of their mother's sickness..._

_They were completely right._

_Janie tried offering to let Rik visit, but a quick glance between him and Velrik knew that Rik would never visit, nor would Janie be able to seek him out. Rik had already promised Velrik without much of any coercion to never try and contact Janie after this._

_But Rik did give in to one request._

"_Will you name him at least?" Janie asked, eyes watering as Rik handed the smeet back to him._

"_...Rimak," He hardly thought about it, he didn't have to. "Call him Rimak...that's a good name, strong one too..." He placed one hand on the sleeping smeet's head, feeling the lekku twitch a bit at his touch. "Good bye...son."_

_Then his eyes turned cold as they locked onto Velrik. "Remember Velrik...if anything ever happens to Janie...or to my son...my promise is void and I'll kick your ass before I clean up the mess for not being responsible." The shorter Irken didn't reply, stepping away a bit as Rik turned and walked past the other occupants of the room and left._

"_G-good bye..." Janie sniffed, holding her new son close._

Xxx

_**Hello again loyal readers. I hope you enjoyed Rikalo's charming personality, because you'll love him and his associates now.**_

_**We go to a world near the edge of the Crimson Quadrant, the one ruled by Tallest Red for people who like to skim sentences and paragraphs. The planet is not the definition of pretty, but people are able to live on it and that is all that matters to settlers. It has massive cities dotting the surface. We shall go to one that is near the equator, in the middle of a desert. The city is surrounded by a wall and a shield that keeps the elements from damaging it.**_

_**Inside we first pass through miles of slums that have been built upwards for decades, and once in a while we see a fight between several alien groups. As we go further in the buildings get taller and fancier, and there are fewer fights...but whenever there s a fight it is much bigger. Finally we reach a large fortified building near the center of the city, surrounded by armed guards and swarming wth crowds in casinos and fighting rings built in and around the place. It seems like quite the tourist attraction.**_

_**Inside, we find a large room filled with dancing aliens, bright lights turning multiple colours. There are ring shaped counters with rows of alcohol from over fifty different planets stacked up in the center, served by scantily clad bar keeps of both gender. But above it all, on the third floor of the room surrounded by an Audio Distortion Field to keep all of the noise out we find a large Irken sitting at a conference table with several of his Lieutenants.**_

_**The Irken has red eyes and wears a matching pair of pants and a shirt under a black jacket with gold cuffs and black gloves. He sets down a bottle of Veniran Spirits and looks around at the gathered criminal lords who now answer to him. He sees them all look away when he makes eye contact, and knows that none of them are brave enough to think of facing him.**_

_**Vexus had carved a life for himself from the blood and dirt of Murderworld, considered to be the most dangerous planet in the galaxy alongside Purgatau. Unlike Purgatau however, it was not completely made of one big city, so there was a possibility for people to do things unnoticed by the ruling faction in the countryside. Most people went out there since the cities had the highest homicides and kidnapping rates in the Crimson Quadrant and second highest in the known galaxy. After his banishment from the original Irken Empire he had travelled there and after a long struggle took over the primary factions. Soon Murderworld answered to one Irken: him.**_

_**So it was easy to guess that he did not like it when some idiot tried to defy his rule. He liked it less when somebody disrespected him in his own headquarters.**_

Xxx

BANG!

The Lieutenants paused as they heard the muffled sound of the doors being blown open. They all stood up and looked down on the first floor as the crowd scattered, the AD Field around them prevents them from hearing everything, but they see everything going on. A green eyed Irken with a metal arm storms in as one of the guards rushed for him. The metallic claw grabs the unfortunate guard by the neck and rips through flesh and bone...one Lieutenant gagged as the head rolled away from the body.

A couple of other Irkens came in, led by a red clad female Irken who shouted orders to them. Then she glanced up as her two companions spread out, taking on the guards. Vexus stared back at her, only to realize that she was not looking right at them but a little to the-

_Thud!_

Suddenly the AD Field dropped and the Lieutenants each grasped their ears or lekku a bit as all of the noise, the screams, the blaring music roared at full volume now. Vexus looked to the cause: a red eyed Irken clad in dark clothing who stood on the walk way that led up from the ground floor to the area where the platform he and his Lieutenants stood on connected. The Irken-who had blasted the controls for the AD Field along with the man guarding it lit a cigarette that was resting in between his lips, and blew a small puff out.

Vexus tapped the controls built into his desk, and all of a sudden the music stopped and the flashing lights shut off. The room was emptied moments after that except for several guards down below fighting the Irkens. Several gun shots rang out as a large Veniran landed on the platform several feet from Vexus, holding a pistol that had gunned down the two guards standing next to them. It was only a stunner though...something that the Irkens below were using also.

"Vexus?" The red eyed male, no doubt the leader of the group asked.

"Depends, do you have an actual gun with you?" Vexus asked, glancing at the Veniran, who merely holstered his stunner.

"If this was an assassination I'd have shot you already," The red eyed Irken replied.

"Really?" Vexus raised both nonexistent eyebrows at the Irken.

In the back of his head Vexus was analyzing the group, their tactics, and deducing whether or not they were anybody to be worried about. The three down below seemed experienced enough, the Veniran's tactic had been brash but effective, but this Irken...he was the leader, and the most experienced. He had a small crew, the Irkens most likely part of the Armada at one point based on their age and experience...

"I only know a few people who would storm into _my home_ just to talk with me," Vexus said slowly. "And only one of them personally. And the rest aren't Irken or they aren't in this Quadrant. There are two who I don't keep track of, but again, one isn't Irken. So you must be...Rikalo."

"I have a reputation here?" Rik sounded genuinely surprised. "Should'a guessed, tons of people come here with their tails between their legs after I offed their bosses."

"Well lots of people prefer to serve a strong leader instead of reigning as a weak one," Vexus shrugged. "And whenever a venerable associate of mine from another world wound up dead I found a flow of a few dozen willing workers who would always ask me to 'just keep Rikalo off our back'." He sank back into his chair. "So...what can I do for a bounty hunter?"

"I'm looking for an Irken," Rik pulled one of the Lieutenants out of her seat and shoved her away. "We talk alone."

Vexus nodded and gestured to his Lieutenants, who all left in a rush. Credaran followed at a walking pace, meeting up with Elay, Loe and Lerak down below.

"So...an Irken on Murderworld? Perish the thought," Vexus said. "I need specifics."

"Pink eyes, antennae with crescent shapes, a streak of pink on them too," Rik said. "She'd be a fully matured adult and she arrived here eight days ago at the space port not too far from here. I found her ship and the security logs showed her leaving."

"And you think that I can track one out of tens of millions of people who live on this planet?"

"I think you can track one good looking Irken who would be bait for the smuggling ring on this world," Rik sat down across from Vexus, producing a small disk projector from his coat that showed an image of Janie that Velrik had gladly sent to him in order to assist with the search.

Vexus whistled. "Not a bad looking woman. You're right about that, she would be bait but it is not the smuggling ring that you should look at."

"And why not?"

"Because I have an informant in there who makes a daily log of who is brought in to the smuggling dens under the city," Vexus replied coolly, taking a sip of his drink. "And whenever they are shipped out I take the liberty of making sure that the unfortunate souls never reach their buyer and instead end up here where I can secure an off world transport."

"Seems like a lot of money to waste for some sex slaves," Rik said suspiciously.

"I condone the sale of drugs, weapons, illegal technology and exotic animals, I do not condone the kidnapping and prostitution of sentient beings," Vexus shrugged. "Or didn't you notice that any brothel on you way here has my guards posted outside it and has one of my mid class officers attending to it? Or perhaps that you never see somebody on the corner of a street asking for money and offering themselves to you? I took great care to make sure that all forms of income on my planet are controlled, Rikalo. It's how I work, I need total control of my assets and how they are collected."

"Gee, you're a hero, go figure." Rik drawled.

"Now, your lady wasn't seen being brought in, and in thirty years my informant has not once skimmed on me...not after I showed him what I did to the informant who lied to me," Vexus chuckled. "But I think that I may know how you can locate her. All I want in return is for you to do one thing for me."

Suddenly Rik was out of his seat and grabbed Vexus by the collar of his jacket, dragging him out of his seat. "Listen up you worthless piece of shit! I didn't come here so I could be your errand boy, I came here so I could do my damn job!"

Vexus promptly punched Rik in the jaw, catching him off guard and grabbing him by the head with one large hand. He slammed Rik head first into the table and pressed down, hissing into one of Rik's antennae. "If you want my help you'll have to be a lot more respectful than that! I didn't get this far by letting two bit mercenaries with the slightest rep come in here and make threats at me!"

Rik's right elbow snapped up and hit Vexus in the face, allowing the gunslinger to break free and sit up before snapping his right leg straight and driving his foot into Vexus' chest. The blow should have knocked him over and off the edge of the platform, but the Irken barely stumbled and instead grabbed Rik by the arm and swung to the side, throwing Rik off of the table.

The mercenaries below made no move to help their leader after a single gesture from Elay. "He can handle this himself."

Rik was on his feet before Vexus even reached the controls again. The larger Irken made the table and seats sink into the platform, leaving enough room for them to fight.

"This ain't the first brawl you've had in your own home, is it?"

"And it is far from the last," Vexus said before lunging forward.

Rik fell backwards intentionally so that instead of knocking him over, Vexus found Rik's feet pressed to his chest. With barely any strain Rik shoved him back and flipped onto his feet and jammed a right handed uppercut into Vexus' ribs. Though this barely phased the larger Irken, Rik did not put all of his eggs into one basket with that hit. In the blink of an eye his left fist struck Vexus across the jaw while his right hand moved up, grabbed Vexus' shoulder, and hoisted Rik up. He slammed his forehead into the center of Vexus' face.

The barrage succeeded in dazing the crime lord, but it also made Rik tumble about a bit. Vexus recovered first and grabbed Rik by the neck, pulling him close only to hit him with his free hand. The two opposing force increased the effectiveness, snapping Rik's head to the right as he was hit from the left. He swung it back to hit Rik with his elbow, but Rik tilted his head back and grabbed Vexus' forearm with his left hand, sliding his hand up to Vexus' and bending one of his fingers back. His right hand grasped the joint of Vexus' arm and he forced the limb back.

Rik's right arm twisted counter clockwise and brought his elbow up into Vexus' jaw, snapping his head up a bit. Rik'S Left hand moved to the back of the crime lord's head and tugged him back towards him where his right elbow slammed into his face once again. Finally, Rik landed a powerful right handed haymaker to the side of Vexus' much abused face.

Finally parted from the crime lord, Rik flexed his fingers and let out a low growl as Vexus tried to get to his feet. Starting forward, Rik swung his right foot up, and hit Vexus below the ribs. But before he could bring his foot back Vexus grabbed him by the leg and leaped up, sending Rik flying off his feet. Both his hands shot out and he managed to catch himself as Vexus stood. Kicking out at Vexus' gut turned out to be too basic a move, as Rik found himself being lifted by that leg and swung around like he was as light as a feather.

Vexus tossed him over the side of the platform, sending him plummeting towards the ground floor below. Rik deployed his PAK legs and managed to land on them, letting them absorb the shock of the landing. Folding them back up, Rik looked up just in time to catch Vexus jumping down towards him. The gunslinger rolled aside a second before Vexus landed, one PAK leg going into the floor where Rik had been before.

"Well now this is the best fight I've had in a while!" Vexus wiped some blood from his chin, retracting the metal appendages. "And usually my opponent is scared stiff to the point where I could snap them in half over one leg. But you...you're angry...beyond angry." He smiled mockingly at Rik. "All of this...for one little pleasure drone-"

Rik never let Vexus finish that sentence. Both fighters and the watching mercenaries were surprised by how quickly Rik cleared the distance between them and pounced on the larger Irken, who was knocked clear off of his feet and found Rik aiming a gun right in his face.

"Never...call...her...a...**whore...**" Rik hissed.

Vexus outwardly looked unfazed by the threat of Rik blowing his head off. "Well...this means more than money to you, doesn't it?"

Rik realized that he had slipped up...and pretty much showed that he was not here for money. Standing up, he moved away from Vexus, holstering his gun-there was no point in it now and snatched an open bottle off of the nearest counter and downed several mouthfuls.

After he was done he wiped his chin. "For a guy who had a gun jamme in his face you sure looked calm."

"Oh, I was certain you wouldn't shoot," Vexus shrugged.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because of me," Another Irken appeared from behind one of the pillars lining the room, holding a slim rifle in her hands. She had red eyes and a small black tattoo on her left cheek. She wore black shoes and red socks, and a red shirt and skirt along with a black button vest. Though not with any armour, the way she held the rifle told Rik that she was proficient with it and could have shot him while he was distracted. "I don't like it when people shoot my employers."

"Meet BlackJack, one of my most talented associates," Vexus said, straightening his coat out. Judging from how he did not acknowledge any of the bruises he had received, Rik's beating had not even injured the crime lord in the slightest, just made him flinch. Perhaps in a serious fight...now was not the time to think about that. "BlackJack, meet-"

"I know," BlackJack cut Vexus off. "Rikalo, also known simply as Rik, a bounty hunter and smuggler born in the Crimson Quadrant, but works over in unclaimed territories."

"Away from Imperials, all the quadrants have a distinct dislike of me," Rik muttered before downng more of the drink for the headache Vexus had left him with.

"Odd, the profile said you were also flirty, yet you're more focused on finding this Janie woman and that bottle of Vortian Firewhisky," BlackJack noted. "Not that I'm complaining, but it means I need t ovisit my informants and tell them to update their sources."

"They weren't far off the mark, it's a bad day," Rik grunted. "Want to give me a smack for being a shameless perv, see me on a good day. For now I'm busy."

Vexus leaned against the nearest ring shaped bar counter, observing Rik and his team. "Quite a team you have Rikalo...you managed to bypass security?"

"Fried the sensor grid," Loe spoke up. "Knocked out the security guards stationed outside, locked the doors behind us and left the two smaller exits on the other side open until the place was empty. Then we locked them before more backup could show up."

Vexus nodded. "Well played...I'll give you this information Rikalo, and I won't waste your time by making you go on some wild goose chase for me. You're not like the amateurs who play at being mercenaries, so I extend this as a gift in the hopes that we can have business together in the future. Not too many have the infamous Rikalo on their payroll. But I want only one thing from you."

"...alright, what do you want?" Rik asked.

"I want you to answer this...why?"

"What?"

"Why are you after her?"

Rik's eyes narrowed. "I am being promised a large amount of money in return for her safe return."

"Yes, that is obvious...obviously a lie I mean." Vexus did not seem to care that Rik continuously lied to him. "But why her? You rushed in here guns blazing when you could have talked to me the normal way. Granted that would have a delay of several minutes...but you didn't have time to waste, did you? She's important enough to risk storming this place and fighting me."

"..." Rik kept his mouth shut.

"You won't get the info any other way, cowboy," BlackJack informed him, setting her rifle on the counter next to Vexus. "I tried once, the guy's got more resistance than a fortress." She popped open a drink for herself. "You might as well just say it." She took a swig from her chosen beverage.

"...Janie is the mother of two of my children, and once upon a time my mistress," Rik submitted, giving them the true reason for his persistence.

"And there we go," Vexus sighed in content, sampling a glass he had filled. "So Rikalo 'Rik' really does have something that can draw him out."

"Son of a...you already knew, didn't you?" Credaran demanded.

"You just wanted him to admit it so that you could confirm that you might have something on him in the future," BlackJack glanced at Vexus. "Devious."

"I'm an intergalactic criminal with a planet to run, I can't play nice," Vexus set his glass down. "Alright...I know who can tell you where to find your mistress, Rikalo. If anybody steps out of the spaceport within the previous decade then she will know about it." He tapped the counter. "BlackJack, take Rikalo to see Shade. I have to insist that your team remain here so they don't try to follow, or else Shade won't do business with you or I...ever."

Rik nodded. "Elay, keep an eye on Vexus and his boys while I'm gone."

"Rik, this could be a trap," Lerak cautioned his leader.

"I know," Rik set his bottle down. "I'd be disappointed it if isn't, but I have to take that chance. And if it is a trap...I may just be Vexus' new best mercenary, or his replacement by the end of the day."

"You can try," BlackJack challenged him.

"He can try, and he'll have a good chance of winning," Vexus amended. "Don't treat this one like a thug dear...he has more than reputation on his side."

"Yes, he's right," Rik agreed. "I have two fully charged pistols with the name of a few thousand people on them, and if you're unlucky your name will be near the top of that list and getting closer every time you stall or waste time. Now let's get a florpin' move on!"

Xxx

"Shade is a hacker," BlackJack explained as she piloted her ship, a small shuttle through the capital city of Murderworld. "A real amazing one actually, and according to Vexus she's not that bad at keeping herself safe with more than just computers and a few hired guards. If he says she can fight, I believe him even if I haven't seen her before; that's how serious Vexus is about this. Either you're worth his time or you're not."

"How do you know if you're worth his time?" Rik asked.

"Well you'll see a pattern in this: you're worth the time, I am, and so is Shade."

"Basically anybody who can make that guy bleed is in his good books?"

"If they're a good enough fighter," BlackJack corrected him. "He respects strength and courage. And storming the place where the ruler of Murderworld does his business dealings and taking down his whole security force followed by fighting him on even grounds generally counts as proof to him." She brought the ship down, turning it as it descended onto a landing pad that slowly retracted into one of the many skyscrapers. "This is Shade's headquarters."

The hangar within was barely big enough to hold the ship by itself, and a lot of the equipment outside looked out of date and out of order. "This Shade gal needs to clean up sometime."

"Shade only needs one computer to do her job," BlackJack shut the engines down and got out. "Now come on, do you want to find your girlfriend or not?"

"Ex-mistress is the proper position Janie fills," Rik replied, getting out after her.

"Whatever, I don't keep track of real life soap operas." BlackJack led Rik out of the hangar and down a dimly lit corridor.

"This place looks like it's close to being crappy enough to be torn down," The gunslinger commented.

"I always wondered about that myself," BlackJack agreed. "She gets tons of money every month, but hardly spends it except on food, fuel, sometimes some parts here and there."

"You know all of this because...?"

"It's the only mission I ever failed: I had to spy on her for Vexus, but the most I got was a record of her spending habits." BlackJack shrugged. "Boring shit...the usual."

She reached a fortified door at the end of the corridor ,and knocked on it three times. It slid open with a hiss of compressed air ,showing what seemed to be an air lock that was brightly lit and quite sterile.

"...clean freak?" Rik guessed.

"It's a scanner, and it eliminates any toxins in case we're carrying a virus," BlackJack stepped in. "Almost happened to her once, and she was paranoid enough as is. Now get the fuck in."

Rik squeezed inside, and let the door shut behind him. A green light passed over them both before the interior door slid open. Inside was what looked like a penthouse. It was finely furnished and looked like it cost a fortune.

"...you're sure you got her spending habits down?" He looked at BlackJack.

"Like I said, I failed that mission," The mercenary replied. "Come on out Shade, you have a visitor."

"I know...I saw him," The voice of a young woman replied. She did not sound fully developed, her voice a little too high for that. The average age for full Irken development was a century...so Rik was dealing with a minor?

She stepped out of a door that was situated at the top of a staircase that led to another room. She wore a simple robe and was drying herself with a towel, indicating she had been in the shower when they arrived. She was not a full grown adult, just like Rik had suspected, but she was close. When she lowered her towel and looked at them coldly, his jaw dropped.

Not at her beauty, though she was attractive for an Irken. Her eyes were pink, an uncommon color that was not unheard of. Mostly pleasure drones were pink eyed, as it seemed an appealing colour among the Irken population for some odd reason...but Rik knew this Irken, she was anything but a pleasure drone. He knew her back when she always smiled, always laughed...never frowned...and never had a grotesque scar marring her face on the left side, extending her mouth further along her left cheek in some macabre smile.

He knew her because he only knew one pink eyed Irken girl besides Janie. And that one girl is the only one who could be this old...he knew her from forty years ago.

"_Kay,_" He whispered.

"Hello Rik," Kay, no longer the cute smeet with the bright grin nodded. "You've aged well...and I hear you have my _Uncle_ on your team now." The right side of her mouth curled up in a half smile. "Come on in, take off your shoes, have a drink. Shade is always a good host to her guests."

Xxx

End of chapter!

Xxx

De Rien ()

Janie (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus (kill-zone)

Kronos (MilukiSama)

Velrik, Belthiad and Zafre (RaynaHero200)

BlackJack (HemeraTak)


	3. Echo of Innocence

Masked Contritence

I do not own Serenity, Deathstalker, or Andromeda Ascendant...or IZ.

List of OCs

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus (kill-zone)

Kronos (MilukiSama)

Velrik, Belthiad and Zafre (RaynaHero200)

Xxx

"How the hell did you end up leaving Lok'n Loe?" Rik asked, sitting next to BlackJack on a couch across from Kay, who was curled up on a chair with a blanket wrapped around her. She had a small computer on the table between them, and was tapping away at it with one hand. Each motion triggered a low monotone chime as her fingers danced across a keyboard made of blue holographic shapes that lit up whenever touched.

"Loe never told you?" She asked, not looking at him, BlackJack or her computer.

"He threatened to throttle anybody who brought up you or Lok," Rik tried to move into her line of sight. "Kay...what happened to you?"

"...not even Loe would know the full story of _that,_" Kay sighed, shutting her computer. "Oh, and I located the Irken you specified. Irken Janie, PAK ID Code 766-431-552 of Generation 87, Pod 9544."

"That's her," Rik nodded. "But don't you dodge the question Kay."

Kay slowly turned her gaze on him, and BlackJack visibly flinched at the cold look in the colourful eyes. It was unnatural to see Kay like this...so wrong, as though a good chunk of what little happiness there was to be found had been sucked out of the galaxy. "...they were too slow."

"They?"

"Loe...and my father," Kay's words were slow and emphasized her feelings towards her old team and family. "They left me alone...they were too slow to get back...and I lost thirteen years of my life for it." She sat up. "The last time we met, you gave me a birthday present...for my year of adulthood, when I would no longer be a smeet by Irken Law. It was a little robot pony toy...I enjoyed it for one day."

Xxx

"_Ka-boom! Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!" Kay made sounds of battle as she held the robot pony in one hand. It neighed and it's eyes flashed red. "Go and get 'em Death Pony!" The pony stepped its tiny hooves on top of a toy spaceship Kay had. "Ka-boom! And Death Pony wins again!"_

"_Do you have to play in the middle of the bridge, Kay?" Loe asked from his work station off to the right of the command chair, which was on a raised section right behind the helm controls where Kay was playing._

"_Aw relax Loe, it's her birthday," Lok said, sitting in his rotating chair. "Besides, we only have one mission and it's just a pick up. Speaking of I'll need you to help me move the goods."_

"_We're leaving Kay alone up here?" Loe turned, sounding concerned._

"_Our little Kay is all grown up now Loe," Lok patted Kay on the head. "She's not a smeet anymore, and she can handle the ship for a while."_

"_Yay!" Kay hugged Lok around the shoulders. "Thanks daddy!"_

_She had taken to calling Lok that lately, and he was all too glad to accept the position as her parental figure. Even Loe could not deny that he enjoyed the smeet's affectionate use of family terms, calling him 'Uncle Loe'._

"_We've arrived at Zedia," Loe announced. "Popping in to see Drosco?"_

"_Not today, I want to deliver this stuff ASAP," Lok replied. "Now come on Loe, let's get out of here."_

_Lok gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead before bidding her goodbye and stepping out. Loe followed behind, and they left the ship in the smaller Para-Hunter, once the main ship of the Irken Defective Infiltration Or Termination unit. Kay sat in her seat and resumed playing with her toys._

_She stayed like that for ten minutes, trusting the AI, Larry to warn her of any approaching danger. Who would attack a fully armed frigate like the Omni-Hunter? _

_Perhaps somebody with an even bigger ship, or three. The pirate fleet had been scouring the Zedia system, and had found little in the way of valuables. But when they saw one lone frigate with one life sign aboard they couldn't resist..._

_Larry tried to warn her, but then the first shots hit before he could raise the shields. Kay squeaked and took the controls, bringing the ship around and activating the automated defences. She manoeuvred between the pirate ships, managing to destroy one before another latched onto the hull. For several more minutes Kay fought, dragging the pirate ship behind her and trying to call Lok and Loe. Slowly her excitement turned into fear as the sensors showed pirates inside the Omni-Hunter, inside her _home._ The second pirate ship went down, but now Kay was left with another attached to her hull._

"_Kay! Kay we're coming!" Lok shouted over the communicator after Kay locked down the bridge. "Just stay where you are!"_

_The pirates tried to persuade Kay to open the door, thinking she was some dim witted smeet who would accept candy. Soon the offers became threats. Kay was hyperventilating in her seat, clutching her head. She hadn't been this close to the danger before, she always hang back and picked Lok or Loe up, or blew apart a few ships using the cannons. She wasn't a fighter like Lok was!_

_Larry reappeared, back online now. "Kay, listen to me! The pirates are taking over the turrets and the engine compartment. Lok and Loe won't be able to get on board unless you take manual control back."_

"_How?"_

"_You might have to vent the rest of the ship," Larry suggested._

"_Kay, listen to me, do what you have to, just keep those pirates away from you!" Lok ordered, the Para-Hunter shooting up towards the Omni-Hunter._

"_Warning, the pirates have control of the engines!" Larry shouted as the pirate ship detached itself. "They have several in the engine compartment and they're activating the flash point drive!"_

"_Shut up! Shut up!" Kay bawled, her face buried against her knees as she gripped the base of her antennae. "Just shut up Larry!"_

"_Kay! KAY-" Then Lok was gone when the Omni-Hunter, hijacked by pirates vanished in a single flash of light._

_Moments later it was light years away in an abandoned system where the pirate ship that had survived the attack met up with the Omni-Hunter. They had lost two thirds of their number to one smeet, they wanted pay back. They wouldn't let her live, not some Irken brat...they would kill her, slowly._

_Larry heard every word they said, and knew that they would breach the Bridge in minutes. Despite how apathetic and lazy he acted, he did not wish for Kay to be harmed. He needed a plan..._

"_Activating command life pod," He said._

"_W-what?" Suddenly Kay was enveloped by a metal cocoon that lowered itself into the floor. "Larry!"_

"_This is the only way for you to get away Kay," Larry replied. "I'll keep the pirates from following you. There's a planet nearby, just wait for Lok and Loe to find you there."_

"_But what about you?"_

"_...goodbye." Larry whispered before cutting the link._

_Kay was launched towards a nearby planet that Larry had scanned, and found suitable to keep Kay sustained until rescue could arrive. Then, taking control of the impulse engines back, he set a course of his own in and locked in the coordinates. He was an AI, a perfect example of machine intelligence mixed with organic initiative, he would leave no loose ends, no chance for the pirates to follow Kay..._

_The Omni-Hunter and the pirate ship collided, and were enveloped in a massive explosion that shook Kay's escape pod, sending it off course. The smeet wailed as she plummeted through the atmosphere of the planet, landing in the northern hemisphere._

_She stayed in her pod, curled up for days. It had plenty of food and space for her, and her PAK allowed her to conserve energy for as long as possible before having to sleep or eat. But the pod's distress beacon gave out within a week..._

_A week that Lok and Loe had not shown up in...a week since her birthday, a week since she became an adult Irken._

_So she gathered enough courage to open her pod and crawl out, shivering and nervous. She looked around the field she had landed in. It was comparable to the continent on Earth called North America. She set up a camp and each night she would look up at the stars and look for some sign of a spaceship. She begged Lok and Loe to come and rescue her. The idea of being grounded, never flying again...it terrified her beyond anything._

_On the fourteenth day since her birthday, she was reduced to screaming Lok's name over again to the night sky...by the fifteenth she curled up and waited to die._

_But then she heard a familiar sound...and saw a shape in the sky. A ship! Leaping to her feet, she rushed to the campfire she had made and created a pillar of smoke to increase her chances of being found._

_The ship was oddly designed, with jagged corners and no discernable laser cannons on it. It had a pair of Irken engines on it, but they looked vastly different too...reverse engineered perhaps?_

_The ship landed nearby, and the crew stepped out..._

_Humans, with guns and nets. They were led by a tall human with large eye balls, who was accompanied by a shorter human with a large head who wore glasses. The older one seemed eager when he approached, while the shorter one seemed confused but cautious. He knelt down and offered a hand, and read from a sheet of paper a greeting in High Irken._

_Perhaps the nets and guns weren't for her, maybe the soldiers were here to collect specimens? Kay hesitantly reached out and took the human's hand. He was gentle, holding her as she curled into a ball. She was tiny in comparison to him, she hadn't hit her natural growth spurt that would make her around Lok or Loe's height by her next birthday._

_She was given a translator soon after when she was put in a room that seemed fine enough, with some small furnishings. The big headed introduced himself as Dib Membrane...he asked if she knew about Zm. A stupid question, everybody knows Zim. She knew him because he never got her father's name right._

_He asked her more; her name, how old she was, what she knew about Irk. She answered most of his questions, but other times she pulled the 'cute child' act, he obviously didn't know that she was officially an Irken adult. She didn't blame him._

_She told him about how she had ended up on that planet. Her tears being genuine helped earn his pity. But then the older human came...with needles and big men. They were meaner than Dib, they hit her when she didn't answer them and would take blood from her. Once they poured water on her, actual _water!_ And they had plenty of it too. They were deaf to her screams and pleas._

_During the second time, Dib came into the room._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_Acquiring information, Agent Mothman," The older human replied. "This Irken knows more than she is willing to admit, the scanners you provided us showed that she has either been lying outright or has withheld information that could be critical. You yourself know how ethnocentric Irkens are, she needs persuasion if she will tell us anything."_

"_She's just a kid!" Dib shouted. "And you're pouring _water_ on her, Darkbooty! That's like acid to Irkens!"_

"_Mothman, you emphasized the importance on acquiring information regarding the Irken Empire," Darkbooty stared the young man down. "We are having her transferred back to our forward outpost so they may begin an in depth analysis of her anatomy and genetic structure. I expect you to assist them."_

"_I will," Dib relented. "But no more torture!" He held Kay up as she bawled, letting her cry into his shirt._

"_Moth Man, I know that at times our methods are not acceptable to most," Darkbooty nodded. "But given your description of the Irken race and the actions of Irken Zim we have no choice but to assume any Irkens we meet are hostile or at least not to be trusted."_

"_Zim was an Invader, he was supposed to be our enemy!" Dib argued. "Even I didn't go around pouring acid on babies back when this all started! We're supposed to be researching Irkens, not interrogating their children!"_

"_It is up to the board to decide the course of action we take Moth Man," Darkbooty put away the tools he had used and dismissed his two guards. "And you will abide by it, either way."_

_Dib stayed with Kay, bringing her a soda and some blankets. He told her his story, how he had fought against Zim on Earth for years until Zim almost succeeded by hijacking the nuclear arsenal of the planet's nations. However Dib had hacked into his base's controls and averted the total destruction of his species, however several missiles still launched and killed nearly a full billion people and rendered almost all of one continent: Africa uninhabitable and caused further damage to other countries such as America, Russia and China. Africa had been Zim's primary target due to the fact that many countries there provided resources to the wealthier countries, and in a mere moment of tactical intelligence and cruelty had destroyed those resources and countless humans._

_Once it was over, Zim's cover was blown and he had to flee Earth and vanish into space. However Dib kept his base from self destructing and used it and Invader Tak's modified Spittlerunner to develop new technology for Earth...and then every war big and small seemed to just stop overnight. In order to assure the safety of Earth, humanity had to unite, and so they did._

_Governments were toppled with the combined help of other countries, and better ones were set up. At other times peace treaties were created and signed in a hurry. During that time humans made their first spaceship and launched it, after that the only enemy they had to worry about was the Irken Empire..._

_If only they knew that Zim wasn't even an Invader to begin with, or that the empire never even knew where Earth was...anymore. They had erased it from their databanks in an effort to forget about Zim._

_Ever since then they had done all they could to learn about Irkens. Dib admitted to being as zealous as Darkbooty was when he was younger, but as he took on more responsibility he had to learn to see the world in gray rather than black and white. So his moves were carefully planned, and he did not jump the gun upon seeing Kay, only a child who was smaller than even Zim. With that he also saw the extreme measures his fellow humans took in their preparation for war, such as torturing Kay for information._

_She spent months after that in a new room where she was given toys and pictures. Dib always stopped by to talk with her, even playing sometimes. For a while Kay felt better...until she began to experience her first growth cycle. She was bedridden for a while as her body began to go through a sudden advancement in its form. She grew half a foot over night._

_After that, Dib didn't visit the next day, instead only Darkbooty came in. It had to do with her massive growth, her immune system, her ability to evolve and grow so fast. He demanded answers...and when Kay ran out of answers he poured water on her. This repeated again and again until they took her out of the room._

_They made her run on a treadmill, lie on tables while they used a holographic interface to examine her anatomy. She was injected again and again with new drugs that caused different reactions. By the end of that month she was so sick from her reactions to the injections that they held off to let her recover. Then those five months turned into a year...two years...three...eight, ten, thirteen._

_She was through her first development stage, she wouldn't grow again for a decade or so now. She was the size of a human teenager, and her body began to grow a shape of its own...this only made some humans get ideas. Darkbooty once explained that they planned to see the capabilities of the Irken reproductive system, but that since she had been a good girl for so long and provided breakthroughs that had apparently extended Darkbooty's life (she cursed her weakness) and bolstered Earth's power they would give her a gift._

_They let Dib in. He was much taller now, his hair longer. He saw her and didn't recognize her at first, and then when she threw herself against him, crying he recalled who she was. He told her that he had been placed on a new voyage out into unknown space, leading a ship of his own. He was an adult now, a fully grown human adult while Kay was still developing._

_It made her a little jealous, but she was just glad to have her friend back..._

_When he asked her why she was so upset, she told him what they planned to do. He did not reply, he just stepped out after tucking her in._

_Weeks later Darkbooty came in with a needle, saying 'the time has come' before trying to inject her. She struggled so fiercely that he needed the help of several soldiers to hold her down...and even then it was impossible to get her to hold still long enough to safely inject her. The experiment was interrupted at the last second by Dib._

"_Moth Man, you are not authorized to be in here!" Darkbooty said through clenched teeth as he and two others tried to restrain Kay, who was shrieking and kicking with all her might, fighting to the last to delay their cruel experiment. "Will somebody shut her up already?"_

_One man struck Kay, and that set Dib off. He held up a small silver gun that fired a blue beam. It hit one man and tossed him into the wall. It was a stunner, but it knocked the second soldier out as well. When he aimed it at Darkbooty he said in a firm tone. "That is enough."_

"_Moth Man you are in violation of-"_

"_You're one to talk about violating," Dib shot back. "I can't believe I ever saw eye to eye with you people! Kay has done nothing but give you information for years and all you do is beat and experiment on her!"_

"_She is an asset to the war effort," Darkbooty stood up._

"_Impregnating her against her will is going to help us win a war? Are you listening to yourself?"_

"_We are developing a method to create Irken/Human hybrids that can better combat the threat of the empire," Darkbooty reasoned. "We just need a natural birth in order to test the theory before we have them tank grown."_

"_Go and grow them in the tanks then, you're not using Kay," Dib said, resolute._

"_I'll see you thrown out for this Moth Man."_

"_Try it, I have control of most of the committee already," Dib snapped. "Now, step away from the Irken or I'll shoot you." Darkbooty obeyed, leaving Kay to curl up under her blankets like she used to as a smeet when she had nightmares._

_Dib forced Darkbooty to leave before he tended to Kay. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."_

_Dib was ashamed at the thought that fourteen or fifteen years ago he would have agreed with these methods without hesitation. But now he was different...and because of that Kay was safe for now. But eventually Darkbooty would override his authority and Kay would be a guinea pig again..._

_So Dib did something that he thought only a mad man would do._

_He released Kay._

_He took her to the hangar and snuck her on board a small shuttle craft used for scouting. He told her that he had fit the transponder from the Spittlerunner that belonged to Tak into the ship so she could get back to the Empire. When she asked why he helped her, he simply replied._

"_Because they're doing what I would have done when I was a kid. To me the world was simply human vs alien, good vs evil...now I'm not so stupid. You don't deserve this Kay, and I'm not worried that you'd tell the Empire anything even if you did know any of our secrets."_

_Then he placed her inside and was about to plot in the coordinates to a nearby planet for her, only to be surprised when she took the controls and bid him farewell, flying out of the space station on her own._

_There she was again, back in her element among the stars, at the controls of a ship. She shut her eyes, and cried silently as she savoured the familiar sensation of G forces pushing against her until the stabilizer kicked in while she accelerated to speeds that would have turned her to mush had it not activated during launch._

_When she was back in familiar space, she found the empire fractured, and no sign of any of her old friends..._

_So she made new ones one different planets. She became a mercenary, a smuggler, and later on a hacker after she met a particular blue eyed Irken woman who took pity on her..._

_And five years ago she ended up on Murderworld where she met Vexus after she was attacked in the streets. It left her with her scar. She had been kidnapped and was about to be tortured far beyond her left cheek being sliced open when Vexus' men burst in, guns blazing. They had been called in by nearby residents to eliminate the killers, who had murdered many others over the recent weeks. Kay was brought to a hospital and met personally by Vexus, who had seen her equipment and wondered who she was a spy for._

_After some persuading she avoided torture and instead volunteered to work for him. He scoffed at her until she kicked him in the fork of the legs so hard that it doubled him over followed by a scalpel being held against the inside of his mouth..._

_Needless to say he let her in not too long before BlackJack joined._

_And ever since then it had been the same thing. Hack, spend, hack, spend hack spend hackspendhack..._

_And she was still alive today because the Irken Empire's greatest human enemy became her greatest friend._

Xxx

"...wow, technically I just fulfilled my mission of learning about you," BlackJack said after a moment's silence.

"Kay..." Rik felt true sympathy for this girl. He had seen her as a child, how bright her smile was...now here she sat as a shell of her former self.

"Don't apologize for anything Rik...you were never in a position to help," Kay cut him off. "And neither were Lok or Loe...though they never stopped searching for me from what I heard. I hold not anger towards them...but I won't talk to them, not now...not for a while. I want time to myself...lots of it." She opened her computer again. "Now...for Janie. I had to hack half the security cameras in the city to keep track of her movements and fast forward through days of it. She was last spotted on a transport bound for a frontier settlement out in the Ganga Desert: Point Nova." She let him look at her screen to see a map. "And the footage from the transport hub there shows she never left. Point Nova has almost no crime rate to speak of, she might have gone there for some peace and quiet."

"Maybe...but I gotta go and find her," Rik said. "She ain't herself and she could be hurt."

"Good luck to you then, Rikalo," Kay shut her computer. "I'd like privacy now, I was about to head off to bed."

"Thank you Kay," Rik said. "Can I...at least tell Loe about you?"

"You may, though I would appreciate it if you held off until you are far enough away the yyou won't be turning back immediately," Kay replied, getting off of the chair. "Good day." She went back up to her bed room.

"...so you knew Shade?" BlackJack ask.

"No...I don't know Shade," Rik said. "I knew Kay...once upon a time."

Xxx

For anybody who feels that I made Dib OOC I thought about how Dib would be like if rather than growing to think of all aliens as evil he learned to think logically and observe rather than to jump to conclusions. In this he began to see how he was little better than the average Irken if all he thought abotu was capturing ,studying and dissecting aliens, and decided to take the appropriate course and examine and research rather than slice them open. Also he began to become aware of how his own people are not as great as he thought, and might not be worth saving as much as he believed. He was one of the only smart ones in the show, I feel that he would not grow up to be some arrogant, ignorant xenophobe like the rest of his class mates will.

End of chapter


	4. Shadow of What Was

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda Ascendant, or IZ

List of OCs

De Rien, Rik's first real lover and his wife. They had two kids, but neither are Rik's biologically. One is adopted and another is the child of an Irken who De had unwittingly slept with before she was frozen for several millennia. (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie, Rik's former mistress and mother to two of his children. (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus, ruler of Murderworld and bonafied bad ass crime lord. (kill-zone) Introduced

Kronos, son of Invader Tak and a human. He possesses the ability to make people vulnerable to hypnosis, making strong minds weak enough that his mother could control them-though some people are too strong to crack. He can also teleport. (MilukiSama)

Velrik, Janie's husband. Belthiad, a bounty hunter. And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200)

BlackJack, a former nurse who had cared for a mentally ill girl named Erra, who she saved from an abusive nurse and considered Erra to be family. Something happened to make BlackJack leave her old life behind to work for Vexus. (HemeraTak) Introduced

_**WARNING: FILLER LEMON! ^_^**_

_**kill-zone and I mutually agreed to the two who would take part in the Lemon.**_

Xxx

"The guy in charge of Point Nova is named Tal'parna," BlackJack said, leaning back on the comfortable seats of the ship with her left leg crossed over her right. "He's small time but he's smart and he hires the right people for the right price. He knows how much to pay and how much to demand. If he knows for certain he can get away with it he'll double cross you."

"He hasn't double crossed Vexus?" Rik asked, bringing the ship down onto a landing pad as the shield flared a bit, keeping the gusting sand away from the hull.

"He never thought he could get away with trying." BlackJack shrugged.

"Sounds reasonable to me," Rik locked the systems down. "Well let's get going, my team most likely has some itchy trigger fingers back with your boss."

"If he learns that you stormed Vexus' club and lived he'll start to think he'll have a chance," BlackJack informed him, pulling on a long coat over her clothing. "I'd rather not endanger my employment with Vexus, so kindly keep your mouth shut before I am forced to sew it shut."

"I prefer not to complicate an already complicated arrangement with a pseudo-enemy," Rik replied. "I'm banking on him doing what most mid level crooks do: panic when he hears my name and grovels, offering to sell me anything from info on Vexus to his own wife."

"He did that several times, sold three wives," BlackJack said dully, not smiling at the rather amusing response. "Offered one to me when he heard that Vexus sent me to collect money the rat owed."

They stepped out of the ship, their coats flapping in the strong wind as they made their way to the center of the settlement. The central structure was two stories high and looked run down, but it had a working sign that glowed bright green.

"Nova Nest," BlackJack sighed. "I swear half of Vexus' girls work here part time at some point."

"I'm guessing the work involved a tiny skirt and a thin shirt," Rik guessed. "With nothin' under either?"

"Something that you will not see me in Bounty Hunter so don't have any fantasies," BlackJack showed her ID card to the guards at the front door and led him inside.

"Darlin', don't flatter yourself," Rik said. "I ain't had a decent fantasy in years and my XO is Irken Eye Candy."

"Good to know," BlackJack led him inside.

"...ok, if this were forty five years ago I'd have plenty of fun here," Rik admitted as women of varying species stood up on counters, entertaining customers of both gender and varying race. Most of the dancers had little to hide with what little clothes they wore.

"At the back, on the crappy throne," BlackJack nudged him and pointed to a Veniran who sat on a large comfy chair at the back of the club. To his right stood what looked like an Irken...with hair and blue eyes that had visible pupils and whites instead of big bug like eyes. The Irken's arms were crossed, and he was examining. A Vortian was arguing with the Veniran, Tal'Parna, who was scrawnier than Credaran and most other adult Venirans Rik had seen.

Suddenly Tal snapped his fingers, and the Irken's blue eyes locked onto the Vortian. They flashed brightly, making Rik blink before the Vortian stopped shouting at Tal. The Irken spoke, his words lost to the music and shouts, and then waved one hand, gesturing for the Vortian to go. With an expressionless face, he turned and left, passing Rik.

"That's Kronos," BlackJack explained. "He's Tal'Parna's bodyguard. Don't let his size fool him, he's...special."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rik nodded as he walked towards Tal, being stopped by two guards carrying laser rifles. "...I'm here on behalf of Vexus."

That made them stand aside rather quickly.

"Wow...even I would have believed that lie," BlackJack said as she followed him towards Tal, who locked onto Rik, glancing at BlackJack only once. Rik was new, an unknown variable to him...

"Tal'Parna?" Rik asked.

"Yes, and you are?" The Veniran crossed his arms.

"Rikalo," Rik replied. "Call me Rik."

"The gunslinger," The Veniran inhaled. "...you're not in Vexus' employ."

"Neither shall I be in yours," Rik nodded. "BlackJack told me you have a habit of scheming."

"And she is right...I see opportunities and take them," Tal nodded. "...but I see no opportunity with you."

"I see one," Rik replied. "I can pay for your services."

"Money alone does not buy me, I need opportunities for advancement," Tal replied.

"Well then an advancement would be 'advancing' one more day in life," Rik said. "I have little time to waste and I have even less patience to spend on you. So unless you want me to show my own version of business, let's talk with the universal language instead."

"...Kronos?" Tal looked to his guard irritably.

The odd Irken shook his head. "I tried, he has mental barriers built into him that I can't get past and natural ones that I can barely crack."

"...a very strong will you have there, Bounty Hunter," Tal sighed. "Eject him, Kronos."

Rik looked to the guard, who took off the long coat he wore. "Oh come on now Kronos let's not-"

THWACK! Kronos suddenly stood next to him and had punched him in the side of the face. Before Rik could counter he was gone, back by Tal's side.

"What in the-" Suddenly Kronos was gone and Rik was hit in the back of his knees, knocking him on all fours. BlackJack sat down and whistled a tune, examining her fingers.

"Did I mention he can teleport?" She asked. "Oh and if you're wondering about the eyes, he's a hybrid, between an Irken and something called a human."

"Oh, gee, _thanks!_" Rik growled as he got up.

Kronos vanished again, but Rik spun quickly and stopped after turning 270 degrees when Kronos reappeared. He would have been to Rik's left, but now he was right in front of him and startled. Rik punched him between the eyes and the Irken teleported away as he stumbled back. People were moving away, clearing most of the club and heading to the second floor mezzanine as though watching a show...which they probably were.

Rik was hit from behind with a chair, sending him forward into a counter. With a sigh he grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and popped it open. Taking a swig, he turned and looked at BlackJack. "I don't suppose I could ask for some help, could I?"

She shook her head, apparently finding a piece of mud-or what she feared was something a lot worse she picked up outside on her right shoe more interesting than Rik's predicament. "Nope, sorry Rikky."

Did she just...?

"Now you listen here you gold plated _bitch,_" Losing his cool made BlackJack pause and look at him, intrigued by his reaction. "I didn't let my wife call me that, I didn't let Janie call me that, and I sure as hell ain't letting you call me that so-" He spun and slammed the bottle into the side of Kronos' head as he reappeared. The Irken Hybrid cried out as he fell to the ground, nursing a small piece of glass buried into his left cheek. "Shut the florp up or help me out!"

"...I think you've got this," She replied.

Kronos got to his feet, revaluating his situation. Rik was adapting to his pattern of teleportation, so he couldn't rely on it too much. He took out a knife from his boot and swung it upwards, aiming to go under Rik's rib cage and slice through his Squeedlyspooch. Rik saw it and stepped back, aching his back so that the knife missed him by inches. Kronos stood up and jabbed at him, angling the blade to pass between the 3rd and 4th rib on his left side, closer to the top of his Squeedlyspooch where it would cause more damage. Rik pivoted clockwise so it passed by him and curled the two fingers of his right hand so that when he swung it up the second knuckle of each finger dug into the soft flesh of the underside of his knife arm while pressing his left hand down on the top side of the outstretched arm. The result was that the second knuckle of the two fingers dug deep into the exposed flesh.

It caused Kronos to drop the knife and try to move away. Rik grabbed him by the shorter jacket he wore, but Kronos teleported and took them both into the air ten feet up. They both plummeted, but Kronos managed to break free in the split second after the first transition and teleported again, letting Rik land on a counter top, cracking it and making the blue lights built under it flicker.

"Owww..." He sighed. "Vexus knew I'd end up here, didn't he?"

"Mayyyyybe," BlackJack shrugged. "If it means anything, you're doing better than most manage."

"Really?"

"By now anybody else would be dead," She shrugged.

"Oh, well that's a real silver linin'!" Rik growled as he got to his feet just in time when Kronos charged at him with his knife back in his hand. The bodyguard managed to cut Rik, but the blade glanced off his rib cage and left a superficial wound that bled a bit; in return Rik brought his right leg up and snapped it straight, kicking Kronos in the sternum and knocking him on his back. "Come on Petty Boy! You're gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than that!"

A moment later his feet were swept out from under him and Kronos quickly snatched a heavy chair and teleported with it above Rik. Kronos released it and teleported away almost as quickly as he had the first time. Rik rolled to his right and avoided the heavy piece of furniture by inches. When Kronos tried to repeat this strategy again Rik unfolded all four of his PAK legs and aimed them upwards.

TSEW! It vaporized the chair Kronos had teleported and sent the Irken Hybrid flying across the room. He slammed into one of the counters and ended up behind it. Rising, he took a leaf out of Rik's book and downed a mouthful of some alcohol to help kill the headache he was quickly acquiring from the fight.

"Come on Kronos, just finish him!" Tal'Parna barked.

Kronos growled. "What does it look like I'm trying to do?"

TSEW! Kronos teleported at the same time that Rik fired his PAK lasers at him and reappeared at the far end of the club, trying to think of a new strategy. Rik folded his PAK legs up and stretched. "Come on pretty boy, I'm just gettin' warmed up!"

Kronos glared at the gunslinger, who seemed to be enjoying himself now that he had the upper hand in the fight. Charging forward, he teleported 20 feet ahead so that he was right behind Rik and tackled him around the waist. They rolled around, wrestling to beat the tar out of one another until finally..

TSEWTSEWTSEW!

They both looked to BlackJack, who had fired her pistol into the air. "...would you all mind? I think Rik's friend has a limited time span before she is beyond saving, so let's get a move on."

The two fighters exchanged a glance, before silently forming a mutual agreement to listen to the woman holding the gun-which she could turn on them with great effect at any second.

Xxx

_**DURING THAT FIGHT, ELSEWHERE...**_

Kay sat on her bed, her legs curled against her chest with her arms wrapped around them as she looked at the TV. It showed her the fight in Tal'Parna's club, via her hijacking the signal sent out to show audiences the famed body guard taking on the infamous bounty hunter. She sighed, looking at her computer and monitoring the bets being placed on the outcome of the fight.

"Advanced galactic society...at its truest," She whispered.

"Something wrong?" She felt a thick, strong arm drape itself around her shoulders. A thin smile appeared as she moved over a bit, against the mass that now sat next to her.

"I put a bet in your name," She replied, allowing the man to hold her close despite how little she knew about his feelings towards her. "10 000 monies in favour of Rikalo."

"You made me bet on the Under Dog?"

"I know Rik...he won't lose," She promised him.

"If you say so," He nuzzled the base of her antennae, causing them to angle back. Kay pressed her head up to meet him, moving closer to him. "So you directed him there?"

"He asked me to find his woman, so I found her," She replied.

"You know you don't have to stay here," He pointed out, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I know, but if I moved in with you people would wonder why Shade doesn't finish her jobs as fast anymore," Kay replied. "And that would be a dead giveaway for me." He lifted her, and despite her struggle and protest he transferred her to his lap.

"You don't have to keep working for me either," He added. "You've done more than enough for me."

"I know..." She looked up in time to receive a kiss to her lips. Once he pulled away her mouth curled up into a real smile. "But I have lots of clients; you're just the biggest one with benefits."

Vexus kissed her again, gently turning them onto the bed so that he was on top of her. "I'm just the biggest one with these benefits?"

"And the only one with any benefits," Kay teased, placing her arms up around his neck and leaning up for another kiss. "...that TV is really distracting."

Vexus grabbed the remote and turned the screen off-moments before BlackJack would interrupt the fight before tossing it aside and focusing on his mate. Despite being one of his top employees, Kay had been friends with Vexus after their encounter that led to her kicking him where it hurts. As she told more and more about herself to him, Vexus allowed her to get away with things others in his employ would be kicked to the street for. Then that friendship took a whole new step...

_**LEMON BEGINS HERE**_

Kay lifted her hips as Vexus moved his hands to the belt tying her robe to her body. He slowly untied it and let the robe fall open. Kay pulled her arms out of it one at a time and lied back, utterly exposed to him. Despite being a professional cyber criminal Kay took the time to keep in shape, but thirteen years in captivity had still left her undernourished mostly in part to the habit she had developed to minimize consumption. There was no reason, she hardly even noticed it...how could she anyways? Her PAK would force her to stop working to eat thanks to a built in program, but after she ate the required amount she was allowed to do what she wanted...which in most cases was work.

Unlike pleasure drones, who often did their best to make themselves look as shapely in the chest and butt area as possible in 80 percent of all cases Kay did not have anything 'big'. Her breasts were small, so much that when she wore her thick bath robe it looked as though she had none. She also lacked the overly exaggerated hourglass figure. She was far from plain though.

Perhaps aside from having 'girl balls' (which he learned when she kicked him so hard that he was almost rendered sterile) and intellect, Vexus was attracted to her because she hadn't needed Imperial sponsored operations to make her look good.

Kay propped herself up on her elbows, her face flushed a little bit-no matter how long it had been since they first began their affair-which was a full year next week she was still shy about stripping down to her birthday suit. Vexus straightened up, removing his gloves and coat.

With one leg he nudged Kay's legs apart, gently rubbing the fabric of his pants against her. She sucked in a sudden breath, and tilted her head back with a relaxed sigh. Her legs shook a bit as she reached up and slid her hands under the hem of Vexus' shirt. She slid the garment up, admiring the large Irken's build. He obviously did not get to where he was by talking and negotiating; he had fought tooth and nail to rule Murderworld. The scars showed that much alone.

While she stared at his torso, pushing his shirt up further Vexus slid his hands up and down from just under her ribs to her upper thighs. Her skin tingled and her gut tightened. Then he lifted his arms and let her pull the red sleeveless shirt off of him and toss it aside. He had already slid his boots off using his feet.

"What you need is to relax," Vexus murmured, pulling her close and nipping at the sensitive skin on her neck, making her squirm and moan softly, tilting her head away giving him more room. One arm went around her waist as she reached for his belt. After tossing it aside, she helped Vexus to slip out of the red pants he wore.

Now they were left without any barriers between one another. Vexus' hands travelled along soft skin and light curves, feeling Kay while she placed both hands on his chest, keeping him at a bit of a distance until she felt ready. Her eyes were shut, and her knees bent a bit so her legs were drawn almost protectively towards her body. After several moments she let them relax and opened her eyes. "...ready."

Vexus kissed her again, placing his hands on her hips and rubbing some tender flesh with his thumbs before he eased himself into her. Kay moaned, her toes curling and her back arching a bit. "Oh..." Vexus' lips silenced her. "Mmm..."

Vexus stroked both of her antennae at the base as Kay bent her knees and brought her legs up around his waist, pulling him closer. Vexus lifted her hips, making her gasp and tighten her grip on him. She felt one of his hands lift her left breast and the dark blush returned to her face. The only time that Shade ever lost her cool business demeanour was during sex, and Vexus enjoyed seeing his usually confident Number One Employee squirm and moan. He bucked his hips forward against her, and she gasped again, her arms tightening around his neck as her antennae began to vibrate.

He continued to tease her some more, nipping at the sensitive flesh of her neck.

"V-Vex..." She whispered. "Stop teasing...get on with it."

She tried to pretend that this was just a stress relief, but Vexus heard her when she whispered in her sleep-and when she accidently spoke during sex. It was quite the paradox when one compared this to other situations: the man wants the woman's love, but the woman only wants a little time to kill some heavily built stress with the man and avoid emotional connections...

Well when you connect it to other stories it seems a paradox, real life is far too complicated to be specific.

"As you wish, Compia," Vexus used the Irken word for 'mate', something that made Kay grimace a bit, but she was still flushed and enjoying herself.

He moved slowly, drawing it out and making Kay squirm and moan under him. He kissed her, and despite her best efforts she kissed back, looping her arms tightly around his neck and matching his movements.

"O-ohh..."

Xxx

"Rikalo, eh?" Kronos asked as he and Rik sat at the only intact bar counter close to the throne where Tal'Parna sat, talking to BlackJack, who was presenting Rik's demands.

"Yeah," Rik nodded.

"...Original."

"Is that a jab, pal?" Rik glared at the hybrid.

"No, that's what Rik means, at least in High Irken...original," Kronos said, taking a swig of some attempt to copy Veniran Spirits-obviously a cheap Irken failure. He spat it out and wiped his chin. "Ew...anyways, look at it this way, in a way that most Irkens in all of the Irken Nations never bother to even try. Rikalo isn't in High Irken, it's a Common Irken form that was created after the Empire was formed."

"How would you know?"

"It's all a matter of finding the history files, and having the inclination to look at them," Kronos shrugged. "Lots of Irkens obey when one Tallest says not to look at something...they obey for a million years through hundreds of generations and hundreds of Tallests. But Rikalo...the High Irken form of it is just Rik. Rikalo is a generic, but slightly uncommon name to this day. You could run into fifty other Rikalo's on this planet if you're lucky. In the main planets of the empire you might meet a couple hundred if you look through every Irken on a planet. But Rik...that was _his _name."

Xxx

Kay cried out with ecstasy, clinging to Vexus. The crime lord enjoyed seeing Kay show emotion, as it was a rarity when she was on the job. It was always 'yes sir' this and 'I have the results you asked for' that. To see her overcome by pleasure...to be screaming his name and show eyes wide with adrenaline showed her in a new light. Shade may have been Vexus' top employee...

But Kay was without a doubt his beautiful mate.

"V-Vexu-UH!" Kay was breathed heavily, yelping as he moved deeper into her, feeling her climax approaching with each motion.

Xxx

"_His?_"

"The Original," Kronos said. "Rik was a title, but it replaced the Original's name, and he became Rik. He took a race of violent and disorganized Irkens and he formed an Empire that ruled over all of Irk. He extended the average life span of the whole species by adding PAKs, but the average Irken wasn't as nearly as technology driven like today. PAKs were a luxury, not a necessity. He had thousands of years to think, build, and change. Some thought that his own PAK was special, that he was immortal...some nut jobs even think Rik is alive today, shaking his head with pity at the state of his race."

"So by Original that means Original Tallest?"

"The Original Tallest was Tallest Blood, formerly Irken Raz," Kronos shook his head. "Don't you ever try to find history files? You just have to have a computer that isn't bugged, can't be traced; access to the Irken public network, and type in 'History of an Empire's Birth'. That's how I was told to find it, and I found it."

"Who told you?"

"Don't know...I can't even remember the guy's face," Kronos sighed. "But he knew a lot about Rik, Emperor Rik. Odd to be worshipping somebody besides a Tallest, seeing as this guy was pretty tall himself. He was Irken, and looked tall enough to dethrone Red. But when I asked him why he didn't he just said 'Rik did not get where he needed to by a random act of nature, he did it with an intentional idea.'"

"Sounds like a wise man or somethin'," Rik scoffed. "Emperor Rik...what happened to him?"

"Supposedly Tallest Blood happened to him," Kronos shrugged.

Xxx

Kay was kissing him, not the other way around now. They were turned over, with Kay's hips pressing against his and her hands on his shoulders and she was pulling him towards her-after a moment of startled surprise he obliged. She was moaning and whimpering as she felt heat build up within her core.

Xxx

"The history files didn't say if Blood killed him, just said that Blood overthrew his empire and built the Hierarchy based Empire we have today." Kronos explained. "There's just conspiracy and rumour; some think that the assassin who killed Tallest Blood either was or was sent by Rik. Others think Rik was captured, tortured, and made as a slave to the new Empire. Others just think he blew his own brains out when everything settled in and he realized his empire was doomed. All because of one mistake...he trusted Blood, because Blood was with him from the start, and anybody who said Blood was bad earned themselves a right hook."

Kronos sighed. "Maybe if he hadn't I wouldn't be hiding out here on a border planet as some bouncer to that scum."

"Nice history lesson," Rik mumbled. "You crazy about that 'Emperor Rik' thing too?"

"Who wouldn't once they hear of it?" Kronos reasoned. "An Irken leader who wasn't tall? Who kicked all sorts of ass in his time? One who unified our race and brought us out of the mud? And the kicker, he did it the way Irkens always do it: conquest, starting right from being a common gun for hire to his own army. Except unlike Impending Doom he did it for the greater good of a planet, or at least that's what he said. And he did improve everything for the general population."

An Irken Emperor named Rik, who started out as a mercenary...seemed downright spooky to Rik-the present one, Rikalo. It was like a re-enactment of his current life-only he was pretty damn sure he'd never be emperor of anything. He was barely master of his own spaceship. Trying to change the topic away from this discomforting story, he thought quickly.

"So tell me...how'd you end up out here?" Rik asked, looking at Kronos. "Half Irken, psychic powers...what gives?"

"Well you see, my mother was named Tak," Kronos began.

To think, all he did was talk about the meaning of his nickname, and he got a history lesson about his apparent namesake.

Xxx

"V-v-VEXUS!" Kay cried out as they rocked back and forth, their rhythm having picked up to immense speeds.

She climaxed first, her walls tightening around Vexus, who let out a groan and pressed his face into the soft flesh of her neck, taking in her scent and taste. As he wilted inside of Kay-who by now had stopped moving and was panting heavily he set them both down on their side.

They had gone a lot faster than he had intended to, a glance at the clock showed that only twenty minutes had passed. Then again fifteen minutes in they both had suddenly picked up the pace, choosing to expend their energy and control in a short time. For such a tiny Irken who spent her time at computers 5 or 6 days out of 7 Kay somehow managed to stay in shape.

_**FILLER LEMON ENDS HERE**_

Vexus pulled himself out of her, but then tugged her close as she tried to rise. "You'll be dead on your feet after that."

Kay whined. "I have work that I have to do..."

"No," Vexus tilted her head up to look at him. "You don't. You'll fall asleep at your desk doing more work Kay...wouldn't you rather fall asleep on the comfy bed?"

With a pout, Kay turned and pressed herself back against him. "Fine. Bossy thug."

"That's bossy thug _sir,_" He corrected, kissing her on the cheek and wrapping both thick arms around her in a gentle embrace.

When she fell asleep, he heard her whispering his name in her sleep again. It lulled him into a deep slumber after several minutes.

Xxx

"Hey ladies," BlackJack said as she walked over to Kronos and Rik. "Tal came to his senses and spilled everything. He saw a pink eyed Irken woman come in just yesterday, asking for a ground transport to the Bad Lands out by the coast."

"Bad Lands...awe hell Janie," Rik stood up. "She's got a death wish, I know it."

"The wonders of love," BlackJack replied coldly. "If you want to save her, we should hurry. There's just one outpost out in the Bad Lands and it's a prime target for raiders who don't like Vexus' rule."

"Why the hell doesn't he handle it then?" Rik demanded.

"He has been," BlackJack shrugged. "It's a big region, lots of hiding places and dangerous animals. And a lot of the equipment that Murderworld's army has isn't exactly state of the art like yours, Bounty Hunter."

"Nor are they quite as brave it seems," Rik got to his feet. "To hell with caution, I'm flyin' in there and callin' my team."

"I was actually going to suggest that," BlackJack nodded. "A fully armed mercenary team with a gun ship brings comfort to this assignment." She looked at Kronos. "Oh, and Tal said you're fired for not killing Rik."

Kronos groaned. "Aw _maaaan!_"

"..." Rik looked at the hybrid. "I could use a psychic on my team...would you be interested in joining up?"

"That depends, do I get paid?"

"Mercenary work always pays if you don't die," Rik started towards the door. "Six way split on all profits."

"Six ways on everything?" Kronos was up and following Rik. "That's like..."

"16.66666666666667." BlackJack answered. "That's 16 point thirteen sixes and a seven at the end."

"You're good at math," Kronos stared as the red eyed woman followed Rik.

"Are you in or not?"

"You bet I am!" Kronos rushed after them. "Heck, here I barely got enough for lunch money!"

And then there were three.

Xxx

End of Chapter Four.


	5. The Right Hand of Evil

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda Ascendant, or IZ

List of OCs

De Rien, Rik's first real lover and his wife. They had two kids, but neither are Rik's biologically. One is adopted and another is the child of an Irken who De had unwittingly slept with before she was frozen for several millennia. (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie, Rik's former mistress and mother to two of his children. (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus, ruler of Murderworld and bonafied bad ass crime lord. (kill-zone) Introduced

Kronos, son of Invader Tak and a human. He possesses the ability to make people vulnerable to hypnosis, making strong minds weak enough that his mother could control them-though some people are too strong to crack. He can also teleport. (MilukiSama)

Velrik, Janie's husband. Belthiad, a bounty hunter. And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200)

BlackJack, a former nurse who had cared for a mentally ill girl named Erra, who she saved from an abusive nurse and considered Erra to be family. Something happened to make BlackJack leave her old life behind to work for Vexus. (HemeraTak) Introduced

Some of these curse words are the 'standard' irken curses made by other authors (I have ownership of 'Florp') while others are taking a leaf out of Serenity where Chinese (I assume mandarin Chinese) is the only language besides English left and is often used by the characters to curse. I will be basing words off of the Chinese language as best I can.

Xxx

_**Hello there readers, I am back. Yes, me, the random mysterious narrator. You thought I was gone, didn't you? Aw I'll have none of that, I have a key part in this little fairy tale you all are reading.**_

_**Now I'm not like you in a way. I am a part of the audience, but unlike you I'm a part of this story also. How do you think I can show you everything that happens? Without me there would be no story to this...and you'll find out what exactly I mean by that in a while, a long while.**_

_**We're at that cozy little settlement, Point Nova on Murderworld. It's got sun, sweat, disease, corruption and hookers...need I go on? Of course not. Now at Nova's Nest, the only somewhat non-ugly building in the whole town we see three figures step out.**_

_**Let me show you more about them than just their appearance.**_

_**The first one is the main focus, a man of many backgrounds but of mundane origin. He is in no way extraordinary and possesses no amount of flashy powers or magic, he has absolutely no special attributes to him aside from how he thinks and feels, and with each day he is joined by more and more until he is merely one of the crowd. But how can one be more important than the rest in this story yet at the same time be no more special or unique? You will find out.**_

_**The second one has her own story to tell, and it is perhaps the only one that has affected her enough to drive her to what she does now. She is both a villain and a heroine at the same time, and while she does the right thing and weeps unseen tears she shows no regret for her intentional actions and takes joy in punishment disproportionate to the crime that it is issued for. She is the damsel in distress and the independent and powerful woman who allows no force to dictate her moves. You will see more of her history later.**_

_**Now the third is one you would be most familiar with for his history. You hear him say his mother is Tak, yes? You probably think he is some run of the mill Gary-Sue for being related to a character with whom you are familiar. Well let me say to you: Bite me, it's fan fucking fiction, you came here to read about us because you obviously felt that something original had to be expanded on because it did not satisfy your imagination. If Vasquez created him you would not question it and would in fact fall head over heels in love with the idea of an Irken like Tak falling in love with a human.**_

_**So allow me to kill your argument with another statement that extends to all readers here...**_

_**Shut the hell up, sit the hell down, and start reading! Forget all of your whining and let your imagination go! Somebody went through the trouble to type down what I say; don't leave his efforts to be in vain you fools! Now we zoom in on those three as they step into broad day light, grimacing at the local stench and the next step of their journey unfolds!**_

Xxx

"RIKALO!"

Rik felt his blood boil as he turned to face the source of the voice. "_Tunguo zeh maneeme zoh Miyuki_ who the hell is trying to kill me now?" He was met with not a squad of hit men or a lone gunman looking for him...

But a mob, plain and simple and armed with everything from pitchforks to guns. At the head was an Irken who wore clothing that was too clean to be from Murderworld-except for Vexus and anybody who worked for him. He was also tall, meaning that since he was in Crimson Quadrant any Irken who had the slightest idea of overthrowing a local crime boss this guy opposed-or Vexus himself would flock to him.

And they had indeed, the whole mob was made up of Irkens. A lot of them were the 'bottom rung' on Irken society according to Crimson Quadrant Law, which kept to the Hierarchy of Height. They were short, some fat, some too skinny to fight without snapping bones, others disfigured or with diseases from an inefficient PAK that failed to neutralize diseases and produce antibodies for their Irken host.

"Rikalo 'Rik'," The tall, red eyed Irken clad in the robes of an Inquisitor repeated. "Wanted on the charge of desertion, treason, murder of the first degree, and a number of other charges against not only the Empire of Old, but every Irken Faction in this galaxy!"

The Irken's robes were dark as pitch, and seemed to shift even when they shouldn't have. They made every move look deliberate, graceful, yet his presence made even the blazing sun fail to warm Rik's flesh. He was an Inquisitor, second only to a Tallest and utterly loyal to said Tallest...

He was an Inquisition of the only nation with a neutral status with the Crimson Quadrant: The Nation of Tallest Shadow. This was only because Shadow's armada could take Red on and give him a run for his money...

And Shadow Soldiers had a habit of performing the following on anybody who opposed them, regardless of age or whether they were armed or not. Thankfully this only happened if you did not die in combat...but the few who lived through combat long enough would disagree about the 'thankful' part.

1: Break every joint in their limbs by hand, one at a time.

2: Place several rats-preferably ones that were of the species that were transported from Earth into a bucket and place that bucket on the victim's stomach, and let the rats eat their way out to escape.

3: Remove their scalps-and at time tearing away most of the flesh on their heads and leaving their eyes permanently open.

4: In the event of that lat gruesome detail, leave them tied up until their eyes have dried out.

5: Rape the victim to death.

And with luck, it would be in that order without any improvised methods being used. The worst part was something Rik had seen while hidden on a vantage point. He came upon three victims, all of them mutilated beyond recognition yet somehow still alive. The soldiers that were tormenting them had taken their helmets off precisely so that the victims could see them...

They had no looks at all. None of pleasure, a sneer, or anticipation..they did not seem to enjoy the torture...

They did it because it was how the business worked. When Rik shot the three to put them out of their misery, knowing he could not save them even if he got them back to his ship they did not pursue. They just stared at him, put their helmets back on, and left. Those who did not fight were left unharmed...but made to watch every second of it. Rik remembered how a mother of one victim had shrieked at him, saying he could have saved her son...

But he couldn't have, nobody could have; not with an Inquisitor watching the torture.

Inquisitors were supposed to be the worst of the lot. Any tall Irken was taken and trained to the point where if they were some fussy diplomat before then they forgot about it entirely. They became a cold as ice killer who was rumoured to slaughter whole towns and do anything to see the will of their Tallest done...

And here he stood a little from the worst of the worst. It was utter madness to willingly go against an Inquisitor of Tallest Shadow. He had heard that they were especially trained to hurt people in ways that even he could not dream of. How did the Irken race spawn one individual capable of creating a whole army of torture specialists?

"Rikalo...you are bound by the will of Tallest Shadow, and by association Tallest Red to surrender yourself." The Inquisitor said. "Your fate has already been decided by Tallest Shadow, may he grant you mercy in a quick death."

"Shit!" BlackJack hissed. "You crossed Shadow? Are you fucking nuts?"

"I didn't...I've never been to Shadow territory," Rik replied, trying his best not to panic. The Shadow Inquisitor just seemed to make every single primal instinct come to life, specifically the one found in certain animals that caused them to flee...

Even if they fled in the direction of the danger itself. There was no sense, no reason, just blind terror.

"Now...take them!" The Inquisitor barked to his mob, who surged forward as one with a wild battle cry.

The doors to the club behind them were suddenly sealed by an energy shield. They were definitely on their own now!

"_Gou-yau,_" Kronos swallowed before grabbing onto Rik's left arm and BlackJack's right arm while they reached for their weapons. He teleported them away from the mob and down the street. "Please tell me that you have a plan?"

"And make it snappy," BlackJack raised her handgun and fired several shots in the direction of the wild mob. "I don't have enough charges in my gun for this!"

Rik activated his PAK communicator. "I need to get a signal, follow me!" He led them off of the street and down a side alley. He stopped by a dumpster and looked up. "We can reach this roof, that should help me signal my ship. Up!"

He grabbed BlackJack, who yelped before she was lifted onto the top of the dumpster by Rik. "Thanks!" She held a hand down and helped him climb up while Kronos teleported up to the roof. Rik took a moment to scan the skies before he tried contacting the Ranger. Elay could have it at the settlement within minutes at best speed, which he hoped would be enough.

"Elay this is Rik, I have a Shadow Inquisitor after me," Rik said. "A convenient rescue would not go amiss."

"_A Shadow Inquisitor? What did we do to piss Tallest Shadow off?"_

"Beats me, but there's one here with a mob," Rik replied. "So if you don't mind?"

"_Got it, we'll be there in ten."_

"You have eight and a half, get moving," Rik said before ending the conversation by cutting the link. "We need to keep these wackos busy for a bit."

"I'd say split up, but I know I'd likely be the first to be caught and definitely the last to die if we did so," BlackJack said, glancing far too casually at the horde of Irken fanatics chasing them.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm the only woman and a good deal of those 'wackos' are men, a lot of them likely lonely men." BlackJack raised one nonexistent eyebrow. "See where I'm going with this?"

He did. "We stick together, and keep them busy. Only the Inquisitor is in shape and it looks like he's taking a back row seat for this show." Taking out both of his pistols, he passed one to BlackJack. "Here, this has a full charge, it'll last you a lot longer."

"Well, looks like the great Rikalo does have a soft spot for any woman after all." The woman joked, switching to the new energy pistol in favour of her own.

"Don't push it, just start jumping!" Rik jumped to the next roof, Kronos following.

BlackJack noticed the crowd beginning to pile up onto the roof and quickly followed her companions. The trio stopped on top of a store with a trap door on the roof.

"Kronos, can you get inside and unlock it?" Rik asked.

"I'm on it!" Kronos knelt, looking down...and then he was gone. Rik stood up and joined BlackJack as they fired on the crowd, taking precision shots to make them stumble over the ones in front and stem the tide. But eventually one landed on the same building as them, and Rik flicked a knife out from his belt. The Irken's hands flew to his throat, and Rik shoved him back over the side before two more took his place.

Rik grabbed the right wrist of the first Irken as she swung a broken glass bottle at him, swinging from the shoulder. Then he fired through her head at point blank range and let her body drop. He turned and fired a single shot through a third Irken who tried to leap across to join the fight. He stumbled down into the alley between the buildings, and most likely died moments later.

BlackJack handled the other Irken who had jumped across, disarming the man of the curved knife he had swung wildly and swinging it in a reverse grip. The blade was facing backwards so that it cut like a sickle into the Irken's neck and nearly decapitated him. Deciding that she favoured the well crafted blade, BlackJack twirled it between her fingers as three more Irkens leaped across at once, one being shot out of the air by Rik.

The trap door opened in time for one of the other two attackers to collapse next to it, BlackJack's knife buried into his eye. Gagging, Kronos looked away and stepped back down as BlackJack jerked the knife free and followed, with Rik a step behind her. He pulled the trap door shut and locked it. "Alright, out the front! We'll lure them into open terrain so they get cocky and then into the latrine ditches on the east side of the settlement so they'll have to stumble over their own _gou-yau_ to get at us."

He kicked the front door open and rushed out, firing his pistol twice to ward off some of the stragglers still on the ground. BlackJack and Kronos immediately rushed for the perimeter of the settlement, which was a thick defensive wall.

"Hang on!" Kronos shouted as he grabbed BlackJack and teleported through the wall without stopping. He let her go and went back for Rik, who was finding himself outnumbered six or seven to one. He grabbed him from behind and teleported them both outside of the settlement.

"That ought to buy us a few minutes," The hybrid remarked.

"Good job," Rik nodded. "Now to the latrine ditches, move it!"

Xxx

Three figures watched through camera drones, examining the retreat of the mercenaries. All three women were Irken and wore blue and black uniforms.

"Should we interfere?"

"The almighty Tallest insisted that we do not unless necessary."

"Tallest Shadow's Inquisitor is here," The first woman hissed. "The game has changed, we have to initiate contact."

"Actually," A third woman said in a calm voice. "We won't have to really, their ship is minutes away."

"I just hope they last that long."

Xxx

DOWDOWDOWDOW! Rik ducked as an arrow passed by his head. "Little help here?"

BlackJack presented him a canister. "Twist the top and throw it over!"

Rik nodded, crouched behind a boulder with BlackJack while Kronos popped in and out of the ranks of the fanatics, which were scattered and disorganized. About twenty of them were spread out over fifty yards, with four or five of them close enough to attack the mercenaries at any given time. And that four or five was usually reduced to one or two within seconds before being replenished.

Rik twisted the top of the canister, which began to let out a series of 'beeps' that grew faster and higher pitched. He tossed it out into the open ground where the Irken crowd was trying to reorganize before half a dozen of them were vaporized by the plasma grenade.

"Now let's get a move on Rikalo, I want out of here before that Shadow Inquisitor can get off his ass-AH!" BlackJack was suddenly tugged off her feet as a large black metallic claw wrapped itself around her upper body, going over and under her arms. The metallic cable it was attached to retracted, leaving her in the grasp of the Shadow Inquisitor, who looked quite smug.

"Aw Splorchamheimer _jita alu!_" Kronos said as he appeared next to Rik. "This isn't good! More are coming and we're running out of space! Let's just teleport out of here!"

"Not without BlackJack," Rik replied.

"Oh come on this isn't time to chase tail!" Kronos groaned.

"I'm about as horny as a smeet right now, this is about getting my team out!" Rik shoved Kronos aside and leaped over the boulder. "Cover me!"

With great dread, Kronos obeyed his new leader and teleported ahead of him, punching one Irken across the face and teleporting out in time for Rikalo to slam the very same Irken aside. The sudden charge caught the crowd off guard, allowing Kronos to make use of his knives and gun as he teleported to random areas. But he began to slow, the constant strain on his power beginning to fatigue him.

Luckily Rik was past the crowd and heading right for the Inquisitor, who produced a small metallic rod and jammed it into BlackJack's side as she tried to pry the claw off of her. She cried out, her back arching as electricity shot through her.

"I can kill her at any second Rikalo," The Inquisitor said impatiently. "Surrender yourself to the authority of Tallest Shadow or she will die first."

Rik hesitated, the crowd closing in around him with each passing second. Kronos had kept them off his back long enough for him to get this close and was now watching from a safe position, all eyes on Rik and away from the psychic hybrid.

"Yes...I knew it," The Inquisitor chuckled. "You'd do anything for a woman...that's always been your biggest weakness. He was right..you never change."

"He?...you mean Tallest Shadow?" Rik asked. "I never even met the guy."

"Tallest Blood wasn't Tallest Blood when he was born, and Tallest Shadow was somebody else when he was born too," The Inquisitor shrugged. "Now...on your knees."

Rik stared at the Inquisitor. "...no."

"Are you listening to me?" The Inquisitor hissed. "I can have your little whore killed at any time I want to-"

Suddenly Rik's hand came up, his gun locked right onto the perfect target. Over a century of marksmanship and technological implants to improve his aim and reaction time were poured into one shot.

DOW!

The Inquisitor fell backwards, a hole in between his eyes. BlackJack fell on all fours, coughing a bit as she pried the claw off of her upper body and letting it drop next to its owner.

"...suddenly these Inquisitors don't seem so scary," Rik chuckled, helping BlackJack up.

Ch-chk! They both looked around and saw a multitude of guns locked onto them.

"Now this just ain't kosher," Rik said as he and BlackJack positioned themselves back to back.

"You murdered a servant of the only Tallest besides Red who is worthy to rule," The leader of the mob growled, a shotgun levelled at them. "I think it's time we did the galaxy a favour and put you down."

"Really now?" Rik asked as Kronos watched from outside the crowd, going unnoticed for the moment. "I think you'll find that we have a habit of throwing a monkey wrench into plans like that."

Suddenly they heard the hum of engines and looked up in time for the Ranger to stop its descent, kicking up dust and sand as the large gun ship hovered over the scene. A pair of turrets popped out of the bottom and locked onto the mob, red lines of light showing where the lasers would hit if fired.

"_Now this is what I call a heroic rescue,_" Elay said over the external speakers. "_All fanatics and weirdoes disperse or we will blast you off the face of existence._"

Disheartened, the Irkens scattered and fled, leaving Rik, BlackJack and Kronos...and the corpse of the Inquisitor. Rik looked up and waved the ship down as Kronos appeared at his side.

"That was close!" The hybrid shouted over the roar of the engines. "So this is your ship?"

"You bet!" Rik nodded. "But before we go anywhere, we have something to take care of!"

Xxx

"Why are we tying up a corpse?" BlackJack asked, watching Rik tightly retrain the hands of the dead Inquisitor behind the corpse's back.

"Inquisitors may be as easy to kill as any Irken, but the real thing that makes them scary is something I had the displeasure of seeing once," Rik replied, stepping away from the corpse.

The Ranger was set down on flat ground, the engines still hot and ready to fly. The crew was gathered outside with the exception of Elay, who was in the cockpit.

"Shadow Inquisitors are different from ones from other factions!" Loe shouted over the engine exhaust. "You'll see in a second!"

"I don't know what you're all going on about," Kronos shook his head. "He has a hole in his head, I'm pretty sure that means that he's-"

The Inquisitor's body suddenly twisted and writhed as his eyes shot back open, now pitch black completely like his clothes. He got up, hacking and hissing as he looked up with hatred at the crew.

"_TADAMI!" _Kronos shouted, leaping back a foot. "But he was dead! I saw you shoot him clear through the head!"

"That's what's special about these boys, Psyche," Rik replied, taking a swig from his personal flask of alcohol-secured safely at his waist. "They don't die so easily."

"You scum!" The Inquisitor hissed. "When My Tallest hears of this he will have all of you skinned and hung by your feet before the masses!"

"Yeah...heard that before," In the back of his mind Rik knew this Inquisitor could and would do it. He had only gotten lucky today since he was a bit of an 'unpredictable' fighter. The Inquisitor thought he would not put BlackJack at risk...

Showed what he knew, but it would not work a second time.

"Now I want to know why your Tallest has a bounty out one me!" Rik raised his voice. "I never did anything to him or in Shadow Territory so what's the big deal?"

"I only obey the word of my Tallest, scum!" The Inquisitor laughed cruelly. "He will hunt you to the darkest depths of this wretched galaxy before he ever gives up!"

Rik knew he would not get any further than this. "Look, go back to your boss and tell him that if he pursues this, it'll only cause trouble! If he wants me brought in and this is some elaborate way of hiring me then he can skip the theatrics! You go tell him that for me, okay?"

The Inquisitor spat on his shirt. "Rot with the unworthy, melkremar!"

"..." Rik shrugged. "_Nili baz hu yi mekat rena..._"

And then he grabbed the Inquisitor by the back of his coat and hauled him up, dragging him over to...

The Inquistor's eyes widened as he realized Rik's inention and screamed before he was shoved out into the middle of the area behind the port engine...and was promptly vaporized and reduced to a cloud of dust being blown across the planes as the engines roared.

"Everybody back on board!" Rik shouted. "We got get to the Bad Lands, fast!"

As they climbed on board, Kronos looked at Loe. "How did that guy come back to life?"

Loe looked at him...and shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me, but an army of people who can't be killed by anything short of being incinerated is pretty damn scary if you ask me. That guy was a dime a dozen, in fact we might have a dozen Shadow Inquisitors coming for us after this." He smiled and patted Kronos on the shoulder. "But seeing as the first was rather pathetically easy I think we can handle a few more."

The hybrid was not put at ease by this.

Xxx

End of chapter

It was hard to use a translator for Chinese, I will admit that much. So I translated individual words one at a time and then had to reorganize the sentence structure a bit in order to get the whole thing down. I mixed it with some phrases used often in other stories at times.

Tunguo zeh maneeme zoh Miyuki (toon-goo-oh zeh man-ee-meh zoh)=By the mother of Miyuki

Gou-yau (G-oo yee-ow)= Shit

Splorchamheimer jita alu (Juh-eet-ah ah-loo)=Splorchamheimer save her.

Tadami (Tah-dah-mee)=Fuck!

Nili baz hu yi mekat rena...(Nee-lee bah-z hoo yee mek-at renn-uh)= You try to help some people...

_**Individual words from translated sentences**_

Tunguo=By

Zeh=The

Maneeme= Mother

Zoh=Of

Jita=Save.

Alu=Her.

Nili=You

Baz=Try

Hu=To

Yi=Help

Mekat=Some

Rena=People


	6. Saviour of Many, Loss of One

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda Ascendant, or IZ

List of OCs

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie (Thorn-Irken)

Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced

Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.

Velrik, Janie's husband. Belthiad, a bounty hunter. And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200)

BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced

Some of these curse words are the 'standard' irken curses made by other authors (I have ownership of 'Florp') while others are taking a leaf out of Serenity where Chinese (I assume mandarin Chinese) is the only language besides English left and is often used by the characters to curse. I will be basing words off of the Chinese language as best I can.

Now it came to my attention that I have two characters named Skloo. One is a crime boss who is rather fat, the other is one who I have not used on fanfiction until this story. She is Rik's ex-lover...ex meaning deceased.

I have decided that the former, Skloo the crime boss does not exist in this story.

Xxx

"_Is this line secure?"_

"_Rikalo never listens to tac-com after a mission is over, he'll be sleeping," She replied. "What's the problem?"_

"_We saw you two in violation of Social Interaction Protocol after your last mission," Tallest Red said. "That would reflect badly on you at an Eistence Evaluation. But...I am going to offer you a way out."_

"_Y-yes my Tallest?" Skloo was losing her cool._

"_I want you to go down to the cargo hold...pull out your gun...and shoot that little Defective slime in the head."_

"_...by your word, My Tallest."_

_Rik's eyes widened with shock as the conversation ended. The moment he processed what Skloo was going to do, he snatched his pistol from where it sat on one of the weapon crates resting in the cargo hold of the Vortian transport. They had stolen it to make their escape with the cargo they had taken from the Vortian Weapons Facility. While Skloo was piloting Rik kept an eye on their catch..._

_Change of plans._

_He heard the hatch to the cockpit open with a hiss up above, and just as he pulled back the slide of the energy pistol to vent the stored heat a single shot flew past his head, missing by a foot. As he spun, moving down into a crouch he took a second too long to aim and was hit in the chest. The plasma shot scorched his flesh, burning through the 'floating ribs' at the bottom of the ribcage before his armour managed to absorb the rest of the attack._

_He fired at the same time, his aim true..._

_And Skloo's blood stained the bulkhead as his shot hit her unprotected head and blew the left half off. Brain matter mixed with her blood dripped off of the catwalk she had stood on and splattered on the floor near Rik, who slowly fell onto his side, groaning in pain._

"_She...she shot me..." He whispered._

_And he shot her...he shot Skloo..._

"_Oh god...oh god no..." Rik got to his feet and fought against the pain in his midsection as he limped his way up to the catwalk and fell to his knees by Skloo's body. Her one remaining purple eye stared up at him, bloody tears pouring from it._

"_Skloo..." He whispered, taking one hand away from the hole punched in his upper body and holding it out, but found himself unable to touch her corpse._

_She would never breathe...never smile...never laugh...never be at his side when he had a tough fight..._

_And he shot her without a second thought. It had been automatic; she was the enemy, she fired on him, he fired back. He was always the better shot._

_And now his mate was dead._

Xxx

_**That was where it all began to Rikalo, but it was also where it began for Rik-the Emperor. You could also say it was the day Rik never use his full name anymore, making himself the new Rik...**_

_**Well, these stories have quite a way of unfolding.**_

_**The original Rik was a part of the army of an Irken war lord before Irken even had space travel. Civilization had once been a lot like Earth's before it broke down due to war. His family was dead, he had no name at the time, he was just another soldier picked up along the way and had an old projectile gun shoved into his hands.**_

_**But then he murdered the champion of another War Lord in battle, tore the fool's head clean off...mostly by accident, it was his first encounter with death. That made his owner take interest in him. He made the young Irken his new Champion...after making him fight and kill his old one. After that everybody called him Shang Yis, the Death's Hand-Shang for short.**_

_**Shang grew as the years under the servitude of Warlord Joza grew longer and longer. Then, eight years after he had been taken, when he had grown from a young boy barely 17 into a man who had ought and killed in over a hundred battles...**_

_**He killed his greatest enemy: his own master, in revenge for him killing a woman whom had caught Shang's attention, and later stole his affection. Just like Rik, it took the death of the one whom he loved the most to awaken him from servitude.**_

_**They both also formed their own inner circle of dissidents and 'freaks', though Shang's group numbered at around a thousand instead of five or six.**_

_**Now...read on!**_

Xxx

The Bad Lands of Murderworld were a collection of rocky fields, hills, and a few lakes and rivers here or there. It sloped down from the mountains to a region separating them from the ocean. A settlement could be spotted by the water, a fishing outpost no doubt. The Ranger ignored it and the venerable defensive turrets on the outer walls, scouring the countryside for a landing zone.

At the helm controls, Elay coolly altered the trajectory of the vessel. "If there's an outpost down here, then I don't see it."

"It's not supposed to be seen, it's a military outpost," BlackJack said patiently. "Just run a thermal scan, odds are somebody's taking a step out for a piss."

"A thermal scan? That's way too easy," Elay glanced at the taller Irken.

"Not a lot of ships on this planet have up to date technology; a lot of military bases are fortified with Phantom Grids to throw off these types of scans, but it only works on the interior area." BlackJack reached out and activated the Thermal Scanner. "Remember that and be thankful that you aren't flying an old bucket of flying _fauhi._"

Elay rolled her eyes as BlackJack walked towards the center of the bridge where Rik sat, eyes focused on the red tinged holographic screen that popped up on the most anterior part of the canopy. "Too much heat, adjust to isolate heat sources from the average temperature of the ground."

That turned a bright field of pink into dark red with several blobs here and there...

"Freeze, rewind 3 seconds," Rik ordered the computer, which obeyed.

He stood up, a copy of the red hologram popping up in front of him. He tapped an area of the screen and had it zoom in on a small heat source. He did this until it showed what could have been a life form sized heat signature. "Chances of that being a life form?"

"Very likely," Loe nodded. "I say we go for it."

"Elay bring us about to the coordinates I'm sending your way," Rik sat back down, tapping a number pad on his right arm rest. "Loe, prepare the transporter. Credaran, I want the weapons armed in case this gets ugly." Standing up, he whistled. "BlackJack, Lerak, Kronos, if you would kindly accompany me to the surface so that we can have a chat with our new friends it would be appreciated-"

The Ranger shook as it took a hit.

"Minor damage to port engine, somebody was taking a shot at us with a ground-to-air launcher," Loe reported. "Good thing we had our shields up or we'd be limping."

"Rik, a whole lot of heat signatures just entered scanning range, converging on the site of our target," Elay said as the screen displayed lines of pink moving towards the area Rik had designated. "By their speed I'd guess that they've got vehicles."

"Well in that case we'd best be prepared," Rik grimaced. "Meet me in the armoury, we're loading up on some heavier fire power before we head down. Elay, how many of them are there?"

"Thirty plus. And about a dozen just popped up in the area where the first was."

"We found our base then," Rik said as he and his team left the bridge.

Xxx

"I don't suppose you'd consider marrying me, would you?" BlackJack asked as she examined the rifle she had chosen from the armoury.

"Why would I?"

"So I could get unlimited access to this heavenly armoury," She shrugged. "But it's your choice."

"I'll pass, my last affair got me sent out here," Rik said, hefting a shotgun styled weapon. "Cred, you'll be our heavy?"

"You know it," The Veniran said as he took a bulky gun from out of its case. It had three barrels in it and would have reduced Rik to dragging it...with help from BlackJack and Kronos. The Veniran was stronger than any Irken...actually stronger than six or seven put together; he was a fine example of what a Veniran ought to be. "Lead on."

"I've never really used a gun before," Kronos admitted.

"Don't then, use these instead," Rik grabbed a bandoleer of plasma grenades and tossed them to Kronos. "And take these two." He passed the psychic a pair of gauntlet. "Shield projectors, should keep you safe until you teleport to a safe area. Try dropping a grenade and blowing it in the middle of their ranks."

"I'll do my best," Kronos nodded, trying to look and sound brave...and failing epically.

"Good, do that and you'll come back alive from anything," Rik nodded. "But if you die obviously you were lacking in the area of combat and survivability, which is unacceptable in my crew. A dead crew member does not get their final pay check if they come back as a flesh eating zombie."

"Has that happened before?"

"You'd be surprised how often."

Xxx

The raiders were supported by a pair of makeshift cannons attached to the top of slow moving and heavily armoured transport vehicles that had carried the strike force. Two faster vehicles, looking like the body of a motorcycle attached to two rings that were angled to be parallel to the ground mounted under the main body. They let out a low, fast hum as they shot towards the outpost, which was small and undermanned as usual.

The soldiers required the use of their defensive turrets and drones to fight off the raiders without serious losses, but a fortunate acquisition of an EMP bomb had handled them and eliminated the energy weapons from their armoury. Now only projectile weapons could fire, and most would lack any optics to help their owner to aim properly. Bullets pelted the sand as the dozen armed soldiers tried to pick off the riders.

By now they would have gotten one at the least, and started firing on the infantry that were following up behind, but with a lack of proper equipment and weapons this task had become much more difficult to fulfill. But the twenty or so soldiers stationed in the Bad Lands outpost were experienced from long weeks of fighting off raids such as this, and they would not go down without a fight. They had more than some supplies to protect today; they had civilians who had stopped at the outpost on their way to the coastal settlement. Several volunteered to help defend the outpost while others sat huddled inside the barracks.

"Damn it, doesn't anything work here?" A Planetjacket whined as he tried desperately to get the long distance radio operating again in the somewhat minimal safety of the Comm. Shack.

"Forget about it!" A Ribarban harshly tugged his companion out of the shack and shoved a rifle into his hands. "Just get to the main gate and be ready in case they get through-"

KRA-THOOM!

Part of the perimeter wall exploded, reducing one soldier who had been standing there to nothing as he literally vanished while trying to reload his rifle.

"Artillery! Take cover!"

"We have to cover the breach in the wall!"

"Somebody spot that mortar!"

"I can't see it-"

THOOMTHOOMTHOOMTHOOM! A large shape passed overhead, firing shots of plasma as it vanished into the massive sand cloud it had kicked up.

"They've got air support now? Where the hell do they get the money for this?"

"That wasn't shooting at us-" Suddenly one of the Hovercycles shot through the breach in the wall and was firing the lasers mounted on the front of his vehicle, mowing down three of the soldiers before something caused the vehicle to explode under him while he slowed to turn it.

Several eyes looked to the source as it stepped out of the shadows of the barracks: a hulking Veniran carrying a bulky weapon-most likely an anti armour weapon that looked too expensive and powerful for anybody barring Vexus' private guards to buy. Behind him, several other figures appeared in pillars of pink light, revealing three Irkens-one of whom seemed to have..._hair_.

No sooner than the newcomers stepped out into the open did several raiders swarm over the rubble that was piled in the breach. The soldiers reacted quickly, opening fire and managing to mow several down from cover. The dark haired Irken vanished on the spot, literally, and reappeared near the back of the invading force. He produced a canister, twisted the top and rolled it between the legs of the bandit in front of him. The man looked down as the canister rolled past him, realizing what it was at the last moment before it went off.

The explosion spat up dust and body parts, but the Veniran and his two Irken companions-wait, three, the third had reappeared yet again, now by the side of his team advanced on the raiders. The dark haired Irken activated a pair of energy shields that hung from his arms, deflecting lasers and bullets alike.

The two other Irkens moved professionally, crouching every time they stopped moving to present a smaller target to the raiders. Every shot from the woman knocked a Raider off his feet, severed a body part, or reduced ahead to pulp. The male on the other hand was using a shotgun styled weapon that fired a single large blast that blew away three enemies with the first shot and knocked two or three more around.

Now realizing that their numbers had dropped significantly, the remaining Raiders began to pull out, stumbling over one another in a hasty retreat. The soldiers managed to pick several off before they piled into their transport-the other one had been turned in to a smoking scrap heap, no doubt by the ship that had flown overhead. The transport and the final hovercycle retreated, vanishing into the hills as the ship came down, slowing as it extended the landing struts and finally deposited itself right outside of the outpost.

"Well I'll be damned, we just got saved by Irkens!" One soldier joked.

"Lord Vexus is an Irken, genius," Another hissed. "These guys must be real close to him, so show respect!"

"Where is your commanding officer?" The female Irken demanded, holding her rifle in a standby position with one hand, the barrel pointed upwards.

"Dead."

"First officer?"

"Dead."

"Second officer?"

"He ran."

"_Geda dena lo yiqie,_" BlackJack groaned. "Do you have any senior officer here?"

"Just me ma'am," A soldier said as he stepped forward. "I'm just the medic."

"You'll do," BlackJack replied quickly. "Congratulations, you've been promoted from Corporal to Captain."

"Uh...thanks," The new Captain said hesitantly.

"Now Captain, it seems you need our help," BlackJack continued. "And we need yours."

Xxx

"This is her," The Captain tapped the picture of Janie shown to him by Rik. "She was acting weird ever since she showed up."

They were sitting inside the barracks, which was the only intact structure now. Rik sat across from the young Vortian. Leaning forward eagerly, Rik pressed him for answers. "Where is she?"

"She left just an hour before the attack," The Captain replied. "Went up to the cliffs north west of here I think, she did that every day. But this time she left all of her stuff behind." He pointed to a simple pack left on one of the beds. "It wasn't unusual, might have just forgotten it, but still..."

Rik picked it up and sorted through articles of clothing and other basic essentials...and found it...

A picture of himself with her during one of their secret meetings. It had been when Velrik was away, they met during a festival on Irk celebrating the defeat of a powerful resistance fleet. They were on a roof away from all of the crowds, Rik with his hands around her waist from behind, his chin on her shoulder while Janie was settling against him, blushing a bit.

The picture was decades old...over thirty if he was right.

"Sir...can I ask something?"

Rik glanced at the Vortian, snapped out of his thoughts.

"Will you stay to help us fight?" The Vortian was obviously frightened. "I-I mean we lost nearly half of the men stationed here and we haven't got a way to escape or fight or-"

"We'll stay." Rik promised him without thinking about it. "But first, I have to find this woman..."

Before she hurt herself.

Xxx

He went alone, and left his shotgun behind. He had to face Janie on his own, he had to talk to her and get her to go home to her husband. He walked there, ignoring the blazing sun as it began to arch downwards towards the east. He would prefer to find her while there was still sunlight, but a little darkness would not deter him from his goal.

He followed the trail that had been shown to him on a map by the new Captain of Outpost 66, searching for land marks mentioned and following the correct path. It led him through a knee deep river-on the other side of which he saw the imprint of a boot in the wet sand, trailing away from the water. He followed, not wanting to miss a chance to find her.

The area beyond was made of winding rocky pathways and low cliffs in a small ravine. It seemed to rise upwards as he moved further through it, crossing gaps and avoiding falls until he reached the end. By now the sun had gone down almost entirely, leaving him with little light. He stood on a clear, flat butte, but there was no sign of-

THUD!

Something landed on him, a set of arms wrapping around his neck and a set of slender legs around his waist. He rolled to the side with the sudden assault, and then got to his feet while making sure his attacker didn't have a knife in hand. They didn't but they were rather strong! Bending his legs, he tossed himself backwards and landed on top of his assailant, who gasped in pain and let go, allowing Rik to turn over and draw one of his pistols, jamming it against their face before he realized who he was looking at...

"Rik?" A feeble, whispery voice asked as a pair of watering pink eyes stared up at him. The Irken under him wore a simple sleeveless dress that reached to just above her knees. It was pink like her eyes, but she didn't seem to care to keep it in good condition.

"Janie..." Rik whispered, dropping the gun next to them before he found himself being thrown to the right and onto his back where Janie straddled his waist. She placed her hands on his shoulders and stared down at him with wide eyes, as though she could not believe that he was there.

"It-it's really you?" She asked, placing one hand on the side of his face and rubbing gently.

"It's me...darlin'," Rik used the familiar term, hoping to calm her some more.

She lowered herself down, rubbing her cheek against the material of his shirt. "Rik...oh god...it really is you!" Before he could respond she cupped the sides of his face and kissed him full on the lips.

The sensation that followed, the feel of her lips, the purr that arose from her when he kissed back...it made him want to take her there and then. It was just like when they had their affair, meeting in the dark and hidden places for pleasure and emotional understanding. He had been miserable and drunk after he was forced to leave De, and meeting Janie had been a relief from that downwards spiral...

Though it only made it all the worse when he had to leave her too. He wouldn't get her hopes up just to have to turn away from her a second time.

He pulled back. "Janie, stop." He sounded harsher than he had meant the words to be.

She did as he said, pulling back and getting off of him, sitting next to him with her knees folded under her. "I'm sorry..."

He sat up a bit. "No, I am...but you're a married woman, and the last thing either of us needs is to be having an affair behind Velrik's back again."

"...why did you come after me?" She turned away, looking out at the plans below the cliff they both sat up.

"I found a job assigned by Velrk. He's stuck on the front lines in some fight against another faction and he couldn't get here himself," Rik explained. "So I came here myself, had to get into a bunch of fights along the way and get chased by an Inquisitor just to get to you."

She stared at him, shocked. "Red sent an Inquisitor to kill you?"

"No...to capture me, and it wasn't Red who sent it," Rik replied. "It was a Shadow Inquisitor."

She shuddered. "You're not safe here then."

"I already killed him," Rik assured her. "He's in about a hundred million pieces of dust being blown all across this continent."

"That won't stop them," She murmured. "That was a weak one, expendable...I know because I came here to get away from a stronger Inquisitor."

"What?" Rik's antennae stuck upwards in alarm. "Another Inquisitor?"

"And he...oh god he was in my mind every night," Janie whimpered. "He kept on making me see my babies die again and again...I had to run somewhere to get away from him. Velrik never noticed a thing when he was at home, and when he left I was all alone every night." She curled up into a ball. "I just couldn't take it anymore!"

Rik gathered Janie into his arms, letting her rest against his chest while setting her on his lap. He rubbed her back with one hand and antennae with the other. She relaxed a bit, her face pressed against his neck as she blubbered.

Another Shadow Inquisitor had been what chased Janie to here...right when Velrik was away...

Did he predict that Velrik would put out a reward for Janie's safe return? Did he know Rik would answer it?...

Most likely, these Shadow Inquisitors sometimes seemed to have psychic powers...perhaps they all were chosen for that reason?

"Why yes Rikalo, we were."

Rik spun around, reaching for his pistol when he felt a stinging pain in the back of his head. He gasped and fell onto his side as Janie called his name. Rik's limbs were heavy, as were his eye lids, but his sense of hearing was able to pick up sentences still.

"_You lead me right to him...good girl,_"

"_Please, leave him alone! Kill me, not him! Not Rik!_"

"_Aw...how sweet...do you know that a woman like you once made a similar request? It was to save her father, who had been accused by another Inquisitor. Despite how incompetent he was the judgment was passed and the father was sentenced to death. The woman pleaded on his behalf...do you know what I did?_"

Janie was sobbing, unable to form words as she cradled Rik's form against her.

"_I made him watch as I dug into her neck, grabbed her spin and tore her head off...then I had him thrown in prison to serve his sentence._"

Janie was beginning to hyperventilate, realizing the danger she and Rik were now in.

"_Would you like me to rip your head off before I drag this little bounty hunter back to my master?_"

Janie held Rik tightly, shaking all over. She had once been a fighter, but the years had softened her, and her fragile mental state did not help...then again she wouldn't have been able to take this Inquisitor on at her best anyways.

Slowly the green eyed, dark clad Irken-who was taller than the Inquisitor whom Rik had killed reached down and grabbed Janie by the neck, hauling her to her feet.

"R-Rik!" She screamed.

"Good...good...look up Rikalo," The Inquisitor taunted. "Get a nice good look..."

As if on cue, Rik's PAK registered his distress and gave him a dose of adrenaline to get him back up. He pretended otherwise, he needed the element of surprise. He slowly looked up, and the Inquisitor's free hand suddenly became a set of razor sharp claws that gleamed.

He swung for Janie's throat just as Rik lunged and grabbed him by that arm, knocking the Inquisitor over with his weight. The Inquisitor snarled as he hit the ground, letting Janie go and striking Rik across the face hard enough to knock him off. Rik, his head spinning stumbled to his feet as the Inquisitor leaped up and swung at him again.

He had enough sense to bend down under it, and backed away quickly. The Inquisitor chased him, grabbing him by the arms as his vision straightened out. He prepared to dislocate Rik's arms, but before he could get a proper grip Rik head butted him and rotated his arms in a circumduction (a cone movement) so that they went down under the taller Irken's grasp and twisted up between his arms, pulling free of his hands. Rik grabbed the Inquisitor by the head with both hands and brought his head down while snapping his left knee up into his face and sending him sprawling.

Janie got up, grabbing for a rock as the Inquisitor snarled and began to get up. She hit him on the side of the head with it, making him lose focus for a second to shove her away. But she grabbed his wrist and held on, slamming the stone down on his arm at the joint, hard enough that it bent with a 'snap!'

The Inquisitor howled and swung his other arm around...

Janie went out like a light when it hit her between the eyes. She collapsed, a bruise beginning to swell on her face.

This gave Rik the distraction he needed to pull out his knife and flip it so that he grasped the blade between his index and middle finger and his thumb. The weapon had an amount of liquid mercury in it, helping to make it appropriate for throwing. When he threw it, the knife spun through the air, heading right for the Inquisitor as he turned...

And the hilt slammed into his head, just above his left eye. It bounced off and clattered to the ground, but Rik was more concerned when the Inquisitor's arm suddenly righted itself with a sickening wet sound. The taller Irken started forward again and leaped up, bringing his right foot out and drop kicking Rik in the gut as he came down, almost knocking him on his back. But Rik shot both hands out and caught himself while the Inquisitor fell on his side from the jump.

Rik's left foot shot out and kicked him in the ribs, knocking the breath out of him and giving Rik time to get up. As the Inquisitor got up, he charged at him to land a quick blow, only for it to be turned aside with an almost casual slap to the side of his fist followed by an elbow to the jaw line that knocked him off balance, letting the Inquisitor trip him off his feet. He stomped down, but Rik rolled aside and planted his hands, swinging one foot up into his side just under the ribs on the right. Then Rik got to his feet in time to bring his left arm up.

He blocked a downwards right handed chop from the Inquisitor, and a split second later his right arm blocked the Inquisitor's right knee from hitting him in the face while he was half crouched. Then he clenched both hands into fists and slammed a right handed upper cut into the sternum, followed by a left hook to the face as he leaped up. Finally, he swung his left leg up and front kicked the Inquisitor towards the edge of the cliff.

By that time he heard the familiar roar of the Ranger's engines. Apparently his crew didn't know how to take orders-

The Inquisitor hissed and grabbed Rik. "Let's take this _elsewhere!_"

Just as the Ranger appeared over the hills, the Inquisitor threw himself and the startled Rik to the left...over the cliff and down a four story fall, right into a river a split second before Credaran, BlackJack and Elay were teleported down to the cliff. Neither they nor Loe, Lerak and Kronos in the cockpit had seen the two.

"Janie!" Elay knelt by the unconscious woman and checked her vitals. "She's fine, but I want her on board so we can check more thoroughly."

"Better idea, we find out where your boss went," BlackJack offered, looking around. "I don't see him."

"Rik wouldn't hit Janie," Elay muttered. "He's got this whole personal rule book in his mind, and one is to never hit somebody he's in love with." She looked at the dirt. "...something went down here."

"No, really? I had no idea when I found one of Rik's guns just lying here," BlackJack held up the weapon that Rik had dropped a minute or two earlier.

"_Tunguo_ Splorchamheimer Rik, where the hell are you?" Elay whispered, standing up and looking around. "This is all recent, so he must be close by. We'll cover ground, while Loe, Lerak and Kronos use the Ranger's scanners. Spread out people, our Captain's missing in action!"

Xxx

End of chapter

It was hard to use a translator for Chinese, I will admit that much. So I translated individual words one at a time and then had to reorganize the sentence structure a bit in order to get the whole thing down. I mixed it with some phrases used often in other stories at times. Please note that at times I will entirely make up words or use ones already known by others. This is just here for the benefit of the reader. I'll get rid of this by the seventh chapter and replace it with a new list.

Shang Yis (Sh-ang Yee-iss)=Death's Hand

Geda dena lo yiqie (Jed-uh den-uh low ee-ick-wee)=Gods damn it all

_**Individual words from translated sentences (and words I make up as I go or acquire along the way)**_

Tunguo=By

Zeh=The

Maneeme= Mother (Doneeme=Father...my own idea)

Zoh=Of

Jita=Save.

Alu=Her. (Alee=He)

Nili=You

Baz=Try

Hu=To

Yi=Help

Mekat=Some

Rena=People

Shang=Death (Shung=Life)

Yis=Hand (Yas=Foot)

Fauhi=Crap

Gais

Geda=Gods (Ged=God)

Dena=Damn

Lo=It

Yique=All


	7. In Company of the Dark, Servants of Blue

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced

Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced

Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.

Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200)

BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced

Xxx

"_Irken De Rien...wanted for skipping out on the termination of her planet," The Inquisitor wore red robes that stood out like a beacon in the underfunded hotel's room. He of course brought his own chair, suspended off the ground by an Anti-Grav drive. "In fact she was never supposed to leave that planet at all. What is most curious is how she stayed off the radar for 15 000 years."_

_Tossing the data screen onto the table, he sat down. "Maybe she seduced tons of schmucks like you into helping her."_

_Rik tested his bonds, exhaling bit. One of the Irken guards jammed the tip of his pistol against his neck to remind him to stay in the chair._

"_Now, we know that you have a long record of treason and desertion, Rikalo," The Inquisitor said. "But...this is a new empire you know. And Tallest Red needs talented men of your calibre. All you have to do is turn over this one little Irken to us and we will forget every crime you did. Right from the original violation that led to your murder of your partner leading up to illegal mating, your record shall be cleaned and you will have a brand new rank of Captain; there are no strings attached to this deal. You will work under Tallest Red in order to reacquire the lost territories of the empire, afterwards you will be allowed to live on under observation to prevent further violation of protocol."_

_He was offering Rik his life back...all just for turning over De Rien._

_Rik didn't even have to think about it._

"_...I'll tell you," He whispered._

"_Good!" the Inquisitor sounded genuinely pleased. "Now I knew you would see sense here Rik. I think this will be the beginning of a wonderful partnership."_

_But what he and both of the guards did not notice until that moment that Rik had managed to squirm one hand out of the rope that tied him to the chair. Grasping the chair with his still bound hand he stood up and jammed his left elbow into the guard next to him before spinning counter clockwise, swinging the chair up and shattering it over the head of the second guard. The Inquisitor, shocked by the sudden attacks reached for the gun on the table, only for Rik to flip the whole thing over onto its side and slam it into the Irken, sending him off his floating chair and to the floor._

_Grabbing his own pistols, which were left on the bed Rik fired twice into the Inquisitor as he scrambled towards the door. One of the guards was back on his feet and tackled Rik around the waist and slammed him into the wall next to him. Twisting free, Rik swung his right arm in a lateral swing that hit the guard on the side of the head, slamming it into the wall before jamming his knee up into his chin followed by jamming his gun into the guard's open mouth, firing once and splattering brain matter on the back wall and the last guard, who was groaning in pain on the ground._

_Shoving away the corpse, he fired a fourth shot into the final guard, who went limp. He heard shouts from down stairs; the other two guards the Inquisitor had brought as an escort racing to investigate the sounds of gun fire. Picking his pistol back up, he waited until they were at the door and fired through it and the wall next to it on his right-the direction of the stairs. He heard a brief cry of pain before he stopped firing, and opened the door to find the two guards dead on the floor._

"_Could'a asked me to assassinate a leader, wipe out some rebels, or even blow up a planet, but no," Rik muttered as he collected his gear in a rush. "You just had to bring her into this, didn't you?"_

_He left the hotel, ignoring the light injuries sustained from the team when they had originally captured him. He had to get off of Devastis, and fast._

_And that day he saw an old Veniran Raider ship; sleek, angular, and rusting away in an old shipyard. The name on it was still visible, the engines still attached, and best of all Rik ran into a familiar Irken whop who was trying to buy it._

_Elay repaired it, Rik paid for it, they both flew it off of Devastis. And that was where Rik's crew was originally formed._

Xxx

_**The universe is big, we all know that, but a single solar system can hold entire civilizations if enough planets form within it. One planet can have infinite amounts of secrets, yet all aspire to go further and further into the void until they find the edges and stare out into the darkness.**_

_**But what then? They started to realize that in the end they stand within a cage, a very large cage. They realize how trapped they are as their population grows and food grows shorter, and then one of two things happen. First, they allow their greed to consume them, disregard the future and consume until nothing is left in return for a life time of comfort over an eternity of wonder to step out of that cage. Or second, they realize the need to leave their cage and come together until they find a way to leave their cage, whether it is an island, a continent, a planet...or a galaxy.**_

_**Shang Yis understood this after he became a Warlord, having slain his old master. His fellow slaves were released, and flocked to him as a loyal army...well most of them did, they didn't know what else to do. They needed a master, why not have a kind one who treated you as an equal? He looked out on the land and saw an aircraft from another faction, chasing several vehicles. It landed, disabling them and captured over twenty Irkens within them. Several more were fleeing on foot, towards the fort where Shang Yis stood on, watching.**_

_**The soldiers watched them, and then as one raised their rifles and fired, gunning them down from behind...**_

_**They did not care even to try to take them alive, they just wanted to make sure that they did not escape alive...to live as they wished to...**_

_**Suddenly Shang Yis was consumed by fury, and took a long range heavy projectile rifle. Back then it was one of the best, now it would be considered primitive, perhaps a few decades ahead of Earth weaponry. He aimed at the ship, which might I add had no shields, as there were none at that age. He fired, the shot passing over three miles of distance and creating a breach in the ship that allowed Shang Yis to see out the other side. The soldiers collecting their prisoners looked up as their ship drifted away and crashed nearby, then they looked towards the fort.**_

_**Shang Yis ordered his own soldiers out, and they charged out in vehicles of their own. The ones who had been hunting the shocked prisoners dropped their guns and fled, all except one, the commander. He held a woman up, a gun pressed to her throat as he shouted profanity...until an accurate shot from Shang Yis caused his head to explode, showering the woman with blood as she collapsed from fright.**_

_**The prisoners were brought back where Shang Yis himself welcomed them. They all thanked him, begging him to let them stay as part of his new tribe...**_

_**And then Shang saw what must be done...**_

_**And he would allow nothing to stand in his way until he achieved it. Irk was a planet of amorality and murder. Those soldiers thought so little of a life, a precious life that they gunned those people down unnecessarily...all just for fun. Change had to be brought about, even if by force.**_

_**This was the day when Shang Yis, later Emperor Rik made his first historical quote.**_

"_**Irkens as a people are incapable of understanding union, or the value of life until forced to confront the knowledge...and so I will force them to confront it. In order to save my people...I will have to kill many of my kind and bring the rest under a singular rule. Those who I must kill are any who have the ability to rule and stand against me, and any who follow them loyally. We will succeed...we will bring the Irken people under one rule...and I will see our people saved from themselves, even if I must drown myself in their blood to see it happen. Call me a villain, call me a monster...you would do so if you saw as I see, feel as I feel, and stand without any other way to achieve your goal."**_

_**And then he invaded three nearby fortresses at once, using covert tactics he had learned over the past decade of having to assassinate others. He snuck entire groups of soldiers in where they detonated bombs that left the fortresses open to invasion...**_

_**That was when the conquest of Irk began. Some would remember Shang-Yis as a tyrant and conqueror, others as a thinker, a revolutionary and a saviour...**_

_**Bear in mind all of the former were the ones who he had dethroned, anybody who survived after being dethroned that is. There was very few.**_

_**Ooh, the next chapter, start reading! We're already four pages in with this!**_

Xxx

The waters of Murderworld had been drastically modified, which explained why Rik was not dissolved by now. H2O would melt Irkens at a fast pace, to the point where being fully submerged would be painful and lethal at the same time. Vexus had managed to cut a deal with the Vortian Federation, which was resurrected once it 'broke free' from the Tallest who ended up ruling it; some Tallest named Blue...or was it something else? Either way, the deal allowed him to dump massive amounts of chemicals into the oceans that altered the chemical build of every molecule of H2O, adding something that eliminated the reaction it had with Irken flesh.

Rik opened his eye, his right one since it wasn't pressed against something rough and wet. He was lying on a shore, soaked to the bone. He slowly turned onto his back and looked at the night sky, illuminated by the moon overhead. Wiping sand off of the left side of his face, he sat up, his joints aching.

"_Dewo Ged,_" (My God) Rik groaned. "I feel like I just got run over..."

Then rushed sounds, something stepping down on the sand, crunching it beneath a set of boots and into shallow water that washed up close enough; it was at first slow and like a gong, but grew lighter and faster. Rik slowly turned as his PAK affected repairs to his perception...

Just in time to get kicked in the face and flop like a boneless sack to the sand. He saw the image of the Inquisitor standing over him, something else surrounding his form...

"You really almost had me," He sneered as Rik's vision cleared. "You might have won..._might have._"

He grabbed him by the neck and hauled him up, holding him off of the ground. "But now it is time to come along quietly, bounty hunter."

Rik strained to break free, activating his PAK boosters all at once. Though meant for use in zero gravity, they managed to launch him out of the Inquisitor's hand and up into the air. Peaking at nearly 30 feet, he deployed his PAK legs as he fell and caught himself, burying all four deep into the sand before retracting them all.

"So...still some fight left in you?" The Inquisitor slowly unbuttoned the robe he wore, tossing it aside to reveal lighter clothing more appropriate for fighting. "Very well then, little bounty hunter, Tallest Shadow taught me how to deal with much worse than you." Suddenly a pair of handles materialized in his palms. For a moment Rik thought they would be energy swords...

And instead, somehow long thin blades extended from the hilts.

"Mass Conversion Storage Matrix," The Inquisitor said, answering Rik's unspoken question. "Wave of the future, _defective._"

He dashed forward as Rik shed his heavy wet coat. He ducked under the initial swing just in time, feeling part of the tip of his right antenna being snipped off. He then pivoted clockwise while half crouched as the Inquisitor swung both blades down less than half a second after his first attack. He brought both hands together; fingers locked and swung them in a single attack into the side of the Inquisitor's face. Rik then launched himself back as the two blades were swung across one another, left blade to right and right blade to left.

It left two superficial cuts in his belly, but Rik snapped his right foot up and hit the left wrist of the Inquisitor, making him drop one of the swords. Rolling forward, he snatched it up and spun, bringing it up in a stroke that collided in a clash of sparks with the Inquisitor's remaining sword.

"You know how to use a sword?" The taller Irken asked.

"Oh yeah, I know how to juggle 'em too," Rik replied sarcastically, pushing off and taking a split second to examine the sword. It was like a sword used by knights on Earth long ago, with a cross shaped hilt and an average length blade. It was good for being used in one handed or two handed forms.

Then the Inquisitor's blade came around again in a clockwise twist. Rik rolled under it and slammed the hilt of his sword into the chin of the Inquisitor, catching him off guard long enough for Rik to stab him in the gut. Blood pooled there, but it seemed to barely faze the Irken, who grinned, revealing needle sharp and blood stained teeth that were just too big to be normal. He tilted his head and spoke through his clenched teeth. "Nice shot!"

Rik jerked his sword free and parried a downwards stroke, followed by having to avoid a stab that would have gone through his neck. He and the Inquisitor circled one another, trying to find an opening.

The Inquisitor smirked, something spreading down the length of his blade, making the metal darker...

With a snarl, he swung it up over his head and down. Rik side stepped and swung at the back of his knees. The blade sank into the flesh of the left on, making the Inquisitor fall to one knee with a gasp of pain. Rik then swung down at his head...only for his sword to shatter on the Inquisitor's dark blade.

"Like it? Tallest Shadow taught it to me!" The Inquisitor sucker punched him in the gut, doubling him over. "Just like he will teach you so many things Rikalo. Be honoured that out of the trillions of Irkens in this galaxy, he chose you to join with him."

He swung his sword down, angled so that the hilt would hit Rik, who lurched out of the way so it hit his shoulder blade instead. Rik was certain that it had cracked at least one bone, perhaps because when he lifted the arm, his left one he felt like somebody had drilled into his shoulder. He grabbed the Inquisitor's wrists and wrenched back, rolling onto his back and bracing his feet against the Inquisitor's sternum.

Managing to get free, the Inquisitor jabbed the blade down, but Rik's right boot came up and hit the flat of the blade and knocked it off course. Rolling in the opposite direction of where the blade had landed, Rik got up and kept low, ready to leap, duck or roll to avoid the next attack. The Inquisitor had his bloodthirsty grin again, coming after Rik with a series of lightning fast swings and jabs. Rik had to twist, side step and jump back to avoid multiple strikes until he felt his back against a hard surface and looked back to see that he had reached a low cliff face, about twenty feet high. It would have been perfect to jump off of into the river if given the inclination.

Drawing one of his guns, he pulled the trigger...only for it to fizzle. The weapon had gone into an emergency shut down due to taking water damage-the one disadvantage of keeping an older model of laser gun. With the Inquisitor closing in, Rik couldn't afford to toss it aside or put it away, so instead he flipped it around so that he was grasping the barrel and leaped forward in a surprise movement. The handle of his weapon crashed down on the top of the Inquisitor's head, staggering him before an uppercut with the gun knocked him clean off his feet.

The sword dropped, and Rik dove for it, but took an elbow to his abused shoulder that made him lose focus and allowed the Inquisitor to grab the weapon and shove Rik away.

"I think that's quite enough now," The Inquisitor frowned. "I don't have to bring you back intact, I can just lop off a few limbs, Tallest Shadow will grow them back after you have...become one of my own."

Rik, on one knee glared up at the Inquisitor, right hand on his limp left arm. He was making the injury seem worse than it really was to fool the Inquisitor, who seemed to buy it so far.

"You can't fight the will of Tallest Shadow, bounty hunter," The Inquisitor 'tsked' as he got closer, the tip of his sword dragging in the sand. "Nor can you defeat one of his Lieutenants?"

"Really?" Rik grinned humourlessly. "Because your friend from earlier went down pretty damn easily for a 'Lieutenant'."

Hissing, the Inquisitor positioned his sword, ready to chop through Rik's left shoulder. "I'll enjoy dragging you all the way back to my master so I can watch you crawl like a little bug."

"...really? Cuz I think I'm more like a horse," Rik said. "I'm always healthy and ready to move."

Suddenly he had the broken blade of his sword in hand, ignoring the sting it made when he cut his palm on it and flinging it through the air. The Inquisitor was caught off guard, and the blade buried itself deep into his sternal body between the ribs. He dropped his sword, jaw dropped as he placed his hands on the blade, trying to pull it out as something spread from it and over his clothes and flesh like black pain. "N-no...!"

"Weird, that didn't happen last time I got yah," Rik said, picking up the intact sword. "I'll remember to let my crew have a look at this later. For now..."

SCHLUCK! The Inquisitor's head suddenly flew off, but Rik's arms had only pulled back into the proper position to swing when it happened.

"I may hate servants of Shadow, but even I can grant them mercy," A female voice said as a figure materialized before Rik, sheathing a long, curved sword. It was an Irken, shorter than him, petite being the proper term. She wore a body suit that covered everything below the neck and above the hands and ankles. It had a blue line going down the sleeves, and had a dark blue overskirt that split at the center in the front and went down to just past her knees that looked to be meant more for modesty than fighting. She thin plates of dark blue armour on her upper body, thighs, knees, shoulders, biceps, and forearms.

A black hood was attached to the collar of her suit, covering all but her face, revealing dark blue eyes.

"That blade was compromised, it would have killed him slowly and turned him into a living bomb," She said kicked the corpse as black fluid squirted out of the stump of the neck. "But now his power is draining out of him, we are both safe."

"Wait, hold up a sec...let's start over," Rik said. "...who the hell are you?"

"An Inquisitor like him," She replied. "Only not a servant of Shadow, I am a proud Inquisitor of Tallest Blue."

"Blue?" Rik had heard of Tallest Blue, who was by far the least popular but third strongest leader of the Irken Factions, some said he could actually take on the Crimson and Shadow Armadas. His territory was large, growing with every defective and deserter who went there every year. But supposedly he had alliances with other species...making him the most controversial ruler since the era of Splorchamheimer.

"Yes, he has dispatched the three of us to meet with you."

"Three?"

Two more Irkens, both women and around the same size as the first appeared from thin air.

"Those look like Vortian Cloaking Devices," Rik noted. "Ones that actually work."

"Tallest Blue did not 'lose' Vort as many believe, he 'gave' the planet back to its people, and in return they provide weapons and technology that is far more superior to what they created for the Old Empire," The first woman explained. "My name is Gaulia, and these are my sisters," She gestured to the two other women.

One had black eyes and a scowl on her face. She was the tallest of the two and wore black boots, matching pants, a dark grey sleeveless shirt under a black metal chest piece that looked stronger than Gaulia's, and had more thicker pieces of armour strapped to her biceps, forearms, thighs and knees and separated from bare skin by a thin layer of padding to prevent it from scraping her skin off. She had a dark blue visor covering her right eye, and held a deadly looking rifle.

The other was the smallest of the three, and had red eyes. She wore no visible body armour, but a dark red-bordering on black full body suit without any features on it and no visible weapons. Her antennae sloped down in a familiar way, and her eyes slanted in a way that made her always look serious and focused...

"Ginia," She pointed to the black eyed one.

"And Phela." She pointed to the red eyed one.

"Most Tallests out there only breed eye colours to match their own," Rik said, glancing at Ginia and Phela. It was a petty thing, but almost all Irkens of the Crimson Quadrant outside of Murderworld had red eyes or had transplanted red eyes.

"Tallest Blue does not follow that trend," Gaulia shook her head. "I think you will actually come to respect him."

"Awwww hell!" Rik backed away a step. "Are you here to drag me to him like that Inquisitor was?"

"No, no!" Gaulia said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture and shattering the illusion of professionalism that surrounded her. "He only wants to talk to you, right here!"

"Right...here?" Rik hesitated. "...how?"

"Like I said...Vortians make things for us that actually work, and one of them is this," She slowly produced a thick disc shaped device that floated out of her hands, and produced the image of an Irken who was twice as tall as Rik, perhaps as tall or taller than Red!

He did not wear the traditional robes of a Tallest, nor were his thumbs gone. He walked on two feet, and wore an attire of black and blue that made him look more like an officer than a Tallest. His shirt had the classic invader pattern to it and was longer in the back, giving him a cape of some sorts.

"Greetings Rik," He said. "It's been a long time, but I hope my new position doesn't cause any bad blood between us. I hear you don't like Tallests too much...but I'm hoping as old friends you can make an exception."

Rik stared at the image in surprise, relaxing his stance.

"So that's where you went...Envon."

Xxx

I know, short chapter without any other OCs appearing in it, feel free to hate me...on second thought please don't. (hides in corner)

But anyways I hope you all enjoyed that! The plot shall begin to unfold next chapter, and Janie will have a lot more screen time, and other OCs shall be introduced very soon.

Thank you for reading!

Dewo=My


	8. New Path Arc, the Renegade and the Sheyi

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced)** Belthiad, a bounty hunter. **And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

Caterpillar (ngrey651)

By the way...I hate to beg or anything but if anybody besides Zim'smostloyalservant is reading this, could you drop a review? I just like to know what people think of the story, even if it isn't entirely positive

Xxx

"_Wait a second..." Rik gaped at the heavily scarred green eyed Irken sitting on the stool next to his. "Loe? Loe from the IDIOTs?"_

_Loe huffed, his one good eye closed as his robotic arm picked up his glass. He downed the contents and shattered the glass in his hand-accidently or intentionally. "Never say that word again, and never say his name again, got it?" He sounded so hostile...the old Loe never would have had the guts to snap at Rik._

"_The hell happened to you man?"_

"_...Reality," Loe shrugged. "Hit me hard, specifically in the right shoulder girdle, snapping off most of the clavicle and scapula along with some of my ribs while the bastard was at it. Then 'Reality' got me in the right eye with a knife and almost made mince meat of my brain."_

"_Ouch..." Rik exhaled. "What are you doin' here?"_

"_Looking for a damn job, what does it look like?" Loe snapped. "Look, Rik, unless you have an opening for a computer geek or something, just leave me alone already!"_

"_...actually...I do have a few positions open on my ship," Rik said carefully. "Pick up any new talents along the way?"_

"_A few," Loe nodded. "Got payment?"_

"_Mercenary works always pays off Loe," Rik replied. "If you got what it takes to survive it."_

"_...when can I start?"_

"_Either when I'm done this next drink or when the police find us."_

"_You did something?"_

"_They accuse me of 'doing' the local mayor's daughter, the only thing I did was steal some documents relating to recent shipments," Rik said. "And these documents oddly seem to indicate that more food should have arrived here than what really did last week. Meaning somebody skimmed, specifically the mayor..."_

"_There are cops out front, are there?"_

"_You know it." Rik downed his own drink in one gulp. "Shall we?"_

"_You act like I'm the one who used to do this with you all the time. I'm not Lok."_

"_Can you fight?"_

"_Hell yeah."_

"_Then let's go." Rik stood just as the front doors were busted down and law enforcement drones swarmed in to the bar._

Xxx

_**So, an old secondary hero has appeared to add to our little adventure. Envon, the perfect candidate for Tallest, don't you think? Strong, smart, decent, and of course tall. Now of course you've seen one side of him before, in another world where things were better and Rik had no destiny. But in this one he too is touched by the corruption, and it has changed him. You shall all see just how badly it had turned him and whether or not it was a good thing or a bad thing.**_

_**For you see...Envon had a big part to play and has yet to fulfill his role in this theatre of life. He has done things that are the very reason why we have a story at all! Why things are the way they are...**_

_**Let me just tell you this: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Envon did something while under emotional stress...scratch that, he was PISSED! He was homicidal and looking for blood, burning with righteous fury...and he did something, one small act in itself but caused such a great reaction in people...**_

_**But alas he is but one who stood on the edge of chaos and dove in. Imagine that the current galaxy is a puzzle that goes over a picture of the one that was before. Seven pieces are to be placed over it, one hexagon in the center with six pieces around it like a pizza...ok pizza traditionally doesn't have the hexagon but-OH STOP DISTRACTING ME! Anyways...slide one piece into your imaginary puzzle/pizza...ok I'll stop saying pizza, I'm hungry now.**_

_**Anyways...**_

_**There are six more pieces left to fill, six more people responsible for all of this. Both good and bad, hero and villain, all of them the authors of this tale.**_

_**Now read!**_

Xxx

"Do you see him yet?" Kronos asked urgently, chewing on his knuckles as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Look, Kronos," Loe said as calmly as he could. "Rik is a strong guy...I mean _really_ strong, like crazy strong. He's as bad ass as my old boss."

"What happened to your old boss?"

"I prefer not to talk about Lok too much," Loe shook his head before contacting BlackJack and the soldiers deployed by Vexus to assist with the search. "BlackJack, how goes the ground search?"

"_The most we managed to find out is that he washed up about 7 miles down the river,_" BlackJack replied, an image of her face appearing on one of the screens as she spoke. "_We're scouring the area, but it looks like there are other sets of tracks leading away...wait, we found something...a body._"

"Who is it?" Loe sucked in a breath and waited for the answer.

"_...It's an Inquisitor,_" BlackJack growled. "_Different from the one Rik killed before. This one is of a higher class, but his whole head is chopped off. He has some other wounds too._"

"I just checked Janie's PAK memory," Lerak announced, stepping onto the bridge. "Looks like an Inquisitor attacked her and Rik, and she helped out until she got knocked out."

"Well, the Inquisitor is dead, so Rik must be alive," Loe replied.

"_But then what about the other three sets of foot prints?_"

"If they were other Inquisitors they wouldn't let Rik live even if they were given specific orders to spare him." Loe leaned forward, hands folded in front of one another, elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his hands. "Could they have dragged him?"

"_Negative, I see his boot prints, he followed them, staying off to the side._"

"Perhaps to show us that he wasn't kidnapped?" Kronos suggested.

"_What?"_

"If you capture somebody and make them walk, do you have them walk next to you or in a formation with you?" Kronos reasoned. "Maybe Rik did that intentionally to let us know he wasn't being kidnapped."

"...follow the tracks and we'll go by air," Loe instructed, gunning the Ranger forward.

Xxx

In the end, the tracks led to...

"A...ibrothel?/i" BlackJack shouted, her face flushed a dark green colour as she, Credaran, Elay, and several of the soldiers Vexus had sent them stood on a hill overlooking a compound with a sign on it that said...

"Sanctum of the Sheyi," BlackJack groaned. "Glorified prostitutes."

"And rich ones too it seems," Credaran noted. "Are they not from Tallest Blue's region?"

"He gave them a union and everything in return for them expanding operations to outside of his territory," A soldier commented. "They're supposed to be just pleasure drones, but officially they're like..._elite_ pleasure drones who raise money for development in Blue's territory. And giving them all protection, room and board, and the option of quitting made it appealing to a lot of them."

"I'm guessing a lot of them like the idea mostly because they get to keep a lot of the cash they make," Elay said, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Kinda," The Captain nodded. "They double as therapists, give great massages...I admit almost all of us probably visit one of their compounds once a month."

"And Rik came here chasing tail?" Elay asked.

"More likely that they brought him there to shelter him," BlackJack replied. "I doubt that he would object."

"I really hope Janie has woken up," Elay sighed before sliding down the slope, keeping her weapons holstered.

Xxx

"Ohh..." Janie groaned, opening her eyes.

"Rise and shine," A familiar voice said, and Janie turned her head to see Loe standing by her bedside. "Welcome to the Ranger, Janie."

"Loe...?" Janie knew of Loe through Rik, having met him a few times. "Where is...where is Rik?"

"I thought you might ask about that," Loe shook his head. "We're trying to locate him now, the Inquisitor took them both over the cliff near we found you, but we think he was taken to a nearby compound of the Sheyi."

Sheyi...

She bolted upright. "He's with a bunch of pleasure drone-AGH!" She put both hands on the swelling bruise on her face. "Ow..."

"Easy there," Loe said, easing her into a sitting position. "He's not off having a good time, more likely he's off getting patched up and a massage worthy of a Tallest."

"Not helping..." Janie said.

"Well here's something to cheer you up," Loe smiled. "You'll be seeing him within the next ten minutes."

Xxx

The Sheyi Compound was made up of several large buildings followed by many small housing units. The houses could hold two or three in comfort, and had plenty of luxuries that the Sheyi enjoyed quite often. The larger ones were two or three stories high and able to hold dozens of customers and Sheyi hard at work. They had recreational areas prepared at all times, and even areas for families away from where clients would meet with Sheyi.

All in all, despite the vicious rumours and stereotypes, the Sheyi compound was very welcoming and relaxed. Rik was surprised to be brought there by Gaulia and her 'sisters'. He was sitting on a rather comfortable chair, wearing just a pair of baggy pants and a sleeveless shirt, his gun belt held around his left arm.

Sitting across from him was Envon himself, in the flesh. That alone was a crime against the Crimson Quadrant, Tallest Blue entering another territory. Accompanying the Tallest was a red eyed Irken with...fangs, long and slightly curving a bit. He wore a modified Irken uniform with a red shirt, and sleeves that had black and red stripes along with long black gloves. His fingers and toes were tipped with...metal. He bit into a can of soda and gulped the liquid down eagerly.

"Zafre," Envon said. "Try not to scare away Rik's team when they show up."

"Doubt he could, I've got a good one," Rik glanced at the doors to the room as he heard muffled shouting and footsteps. "Good enough to track me here this quickly."

THUD!

BlackJack kicked the door open, flanked by Lerak and Elay. Each of them looked close to drawing a gun until they saw Rik, causally lounging on a chair across from the one Irken who never should have been on Murderworld, much less in the Quadrant.

"T-Tallest Blue?" Lerak stuttered.

"I prefer Envon if you wouldn't mind," Envon replied. "Come in, have a seat...we have much to discuss."

"Alright, let me just let Vexus' soldiers know that they can cool down," BlackJack didn't even turn before she heard the voice of her boss.

"I already told them," Vexus strolled in, head held high...and Kay by his side. Rik only recognised her because she glanced up ever so briefly to let him see her pink eyes under the hood she wore along with a long flowing cloak. "Tallest Envon, a pleasure as always."

"You knew about Blue-I mean Envon being here?" BlackJack asked.

"He has visited Murderworld many time over the past decades," Vexus nodded ,sitting on a couch that literally slid out of a wall nearby. "He helped me to secure my hold on Murderworld, indirectly of course; he has to stay incognito at all times. And I am obliged to assist him due to our life long business arrangement."

"The arrangement that Red must die," Kay spoke, her voice filtered and altered so it sounded like multiple whispery voices at once instead of her own. "One we all agree on."

"And that is why we are gathered now that Rik had saved his lover," Vexus nodded. "In fact bring her in."

"She's not my-" Rik began to object before Janie rushed past the group. "Janie?" He got up in time to catch her as she hugged him, her arms around his shoulders while his went around her waist to hold her up.

"Rik...!" She buried her face against his shoulder. "You're alright, thank god..."

"Aw you thought a little fall and some water killed me?" Rik asked, rubbing her back.

"I was more worried about you being in a brothel," Janie joked.

"The Sheyi work for me," Envon said. "Even if they could harm somebody, they never would unless in self defence." He clapped his hands twice and several chairs hovered into the room. "Now sit, relax, I insist. We have a great issue we must talk about."

After Rik's team was in and seated-Kay taking care that Loe did not see under her hood Envon stood up. "Good...everyone is here."

"Who are you?" Janie asked, sitting next to Rik on the large chair that he had been occupying alone until a minute ago.

"You would know me as Tallest Blue," Envon bowed at the waist to the group. "But here with friends, you may call me Envon."

"The former Admiral of the Old Armada?" Loe asked.

"The same," Envon nodded.

"Why would a Tallest meet with a bunch of guns for hire on the most dangerous planet in the Crimson Quadrant?" BlackJack asked.

"Because that Tallest needs guns for hire who happen to be found on the most dangerous planet in the Crimson Quadrant, right where people would never look for me." Envon explained. "I have come to offer all of you a job, a mission, and an important one at that."

"I'm guessing it pays a lot?" Rik asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Indeed," Envon nodded. "Tallest Red and Tallest Shadow work closely one many operations despite being rival Tallests, and most recently they have been focusing their resources on a particular area in unclaimed space, formerly a colony of the Meekroob on the outer rim." As he spoke his PAK extended one tentacle tipped with a projector which displayed a map of the galaxy, highlighting the regions of the Irken Nations. "Right here...they have been positioning fleets to head here with full armament and compliments of soldiers. There are three inhabitable worlds in that system, but my spies in Red's administration indicated that they are heading for the third world in the system."

"Why would they send battle fleets to one system?" Elay asked.

"I don't know, but it must be important," Envon replied. "What is most odd is that I acquired a set of orders given to Admiral Sket of Red's Armada...it is a retrieval mission, specifically for an unnamed 'subject' who is classified to be of great importance: Class D1."

"Defective Class One...that classification was made as a formality," Lerak commented. "For anybody who doesn't know about it, D1 means that a Defective of First Class Importance to the safety, security and expansion of the empire...but it's never been used since the founding of the Old Empire or the current nations."

"It's always T1 for Tallests, T2 for Second Tallests, etc..." Envon nodded again. "But why would they want to retrieve a defective Irken...and why would he be so important?"

"That is what I want you to find out," Envon nodded to Zafre, who produced a small drive from his pocket. "We have the precise coordinates to the fleets' destination, and we know that your ship, the Ranger, can get there before any Crimson or Shadow ships." As Zafre tossed the drive to Rik, Vexus spoke up.

"But I would recommend that you make your party less recognizable if you go," The crime lord said.

"Define 'recognizable'," Rik replied, staring at the larger Irken.

"The Inquisitors no doubt sent information they gathered back to their respective leader," Vexus explained. "They do it with a form of telepathic link, amplified with neural boosters and directed with a tiny transmitter implanted right into their skulls. I've seen it myself, but only with a Shadow Inquisitor. I don't know if all of them have this...but I'm betting the second one did at least, and that he was watching you for a time before he made his move."

Rik nodded. "Seems reasonable to assume, what would you suggest?"

"Send part of your team on a separate route," Kay said, keeping her voice disguised so that it sounded like it came out of a speaker. "Take minimal numbers and make it fast, then the second team can warn you of any incoming danger while they make their approach and help you out."

"You're suggesting we split up?"

"We're _insisting_," Envon corrected. "If you all leave on one ship together, you will be followed no doubt. Shadow's spies are clever, but the Tallest himself seems to...lack interest in acting on most occasions. The attacks on you and this fleet commitment are the largest steps he has taken in perhaps decades."

"But if you leave in two ships," Kay added. "Take two separate exits, calculate the time it will take for both ships to reach the planet, and synchronize so that your ship arrives a little ahead of the other."

"How do we know they aren't already spying on us?" BlackJack took a glance around.

"Because I found them already," A new voice said, drawing their attention to the doors where two Irkens, bound and unconscious were thrown to the floor. Three more Irkens stood over them, two women and a man. They all wore clothes of the Sheyi, meaning ankle length wrap around skirts and sleeveless shirts that exposed their midriffs...even the man wore that.

The male Irken had orange eyes and black arrow tattoos, one aiming upwards through his left eye and one aiming downwards through his right eye. His antennae were of an exotic and complicated shape, sticking up and then curling upwards at the tip, but also with a sort of pointy segment that aimed down that stuck out several inches short of the curled end.

"They attempted to remove the clothing from my two sisters," The man said. "I would have intervened...but I was too slow and by the time I was close they were already out cold."

"Good work, Drosco," Envon nodded. "Everybody, this is Drosco, Master of the Sheyi."

"A male Sheyi?" Elay stared.

"There were male pleasure drones if you recall," Drosco pointed out.

"My Tallest," Gaulia said as she, Ginia and Phela bowed to Envon. "Allow us to take the spies to your ship for interrogation, and we shall wring the secrets of their master from them."

"Do so," Envon nodded. "But if they answer, let them live, I always have room for spies who can escape with false information...or if they're smart enough turn to my side."

The three 'sisters' dragged the prisoners out.

"Thank you, My Tallest," Drosco said sweetly, giving Envon a kiss on the cheek-to the surprise of the mercenaries, Envon did not lash out or yell at Drosco for this, but lightly smile and patted the shorter Irken on the head once, rubbing his antennae gently.

"Anything for my loyal advisor," Envon said with a warm smile. "And a friend."

"He's your advisor?" Even Vexus seemed to be having surprises today.

"The Sheyi are loyal to me for a reason," Envon chuckled. "I made their order and appointed the most worthy to lead it. Officially I have no influence, but Drosco has long been my advisor. And he is the one who suggested you split up."

"Uh...I have a thought though," Loe said, raising a hand. "...why don't you send your own giant fleet to find this D1 Defective?"

"I would, but I have three different Tallests vying to invade my territory," Envon said. "I have to protect my planets, and eliminate the threat. Tallests Rom, Eo, and Det are desperate though...and acquiring their territory and resources could allow me to go against Red and Shadow at once. Until then I only have several ships to spare. One of which your second team can take."

"...alright, I'll play ball," Rik stood up along with Janie, BlackJack, Lerak, Elay, Credaran, Loe, and Kronos. "Loe, BlackJack and Janie with me. Elay, take Lerak, Credaran and Kronos in the second ship."

"Why's your old flame coming with us?" Loe asked. "No offense Janie."

"Because I ain't leavin' her on this planet and Shadow could send more of his pets after her," Rik replied. "So she stays, and she'll brush up on her fightin' skills in the mean time."

Janie nodded, flushed a bit. "Alright Rik."

"You can take Gaulia and her sisters in the second ship," Envon offered. "It helps to have more hands. And Zafre and Drosco shall be accompanying you. Zafre will be there in case the Armada gets there before you leave." As Zafre got up Envon clapped him on the shoulder. "He's reliable, and he hates the Crimson Armada more than I do."

Zafre nodded. "Don't worry Rikalo, the most you'll see of me is when I am ripping apart some of Red's toy soldiers."

"And Drosco will be there since...well let's just say he has his methods of persuasion," Envon chuckled. "So then if the Defective refuses to come along willingly you won't have to injure him to accomplish your mission."

"I promise that that my methods are not what Envon insinuates," Drosco frowned, glancing at Envon. "And if you run into any...less than friendly opposition on the way...the Sheyi do have considerable influence in all of the Irken factions, and some non-Irken factions. I will be of assistance to you."

"Fine, they can stick along, any other volunteers?" Rik asked.

"Yeah...me," Vexus said. "I'll take Shade along in the second ship while you go on ahead. We'll be there to back you up if you need it."

"See you there then," Rik looked to his team. "Load up your gear into whichever ship you're taking. I'll be takin' the most direct route, y'all find a trade lane and follow it as close as possible before breaking off. If you hitch onto a transport or two you could throw off anybody followin' yah."

As his team-and the new additions left, Rik looked at Envon. "I'd better be gettin' paid a fortune for this."

"Yes...you'll have one of two rewards," Envon nodded. "I'll show them to you when you get back."

"Why not now?"

"You might not survive despite how confident I am in you," Envon replied coolly. "I never throw all of my eggs into one basket, Rikalo, remember that. I strategize, something that Red is thankfully incapable of doing and relied on me to make up for. Let's just say that when you get back...one reward will be the money you want, the other...you'll take if you want to go a lot further than being a regular soldier of fortune."

He stood up and leaned down to Rik's height. "Do you want to fly around the galaxy for the rest of your life, crawling for money from every person who offers you a job? Do thankless jobs? Make no difference whatsoever in making your life and the life of your family better?...if you take that second reward instead of the money...I could make sure you and De live together again for the rest of your lives."

Rik grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "How the hell do you know about-"

"I found the files on you and her," Envon said. "I know your situation Rik...I can make it all go away. At the very least I will keep De safe from Red."

"Do you...know where she is?"

Envon nodded. "But if I tell you, you'll go and find her even if you don't want to...and at the moment that will endanger her. If you wish me to I still will tell you but..."

"No...not yet anyways," Rik turned away. "I...I'll go and find De later."

"Your children are safe too...all four of them," Envon added. "I owe you their continued safety at the very least. But again...turn down the money and take the other reward, and you'll see all of them _and_ De again...and you will never have to let them go so long as you all live."

That was Rik's dream come true...a dream that had been ruined twice, once with De, Fren and Ouri; and again with Janie, Rimak and Lania.

He already lost two families, he was not about to get their hopes up and lose them again.

"I'll pass, just keep them safe." Rik turned and left to go and get his clothes back from the Sheyi.

Xxx

End of chapter!

Dewo (Like Duo, except more emphasis on the first syllable)=My

Sheyi (Sh-ey(like in hey)-aye=Healers (of Spirit) (Sheya=Healers (of Flesh, basically doctors)


	9. New Path Arc, The Storm Tower

Masked Contritence

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced)** Belthiad, a bounty hunter. **And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

Caterpillar (ngrey651)

Xxx

"_You can't keep doing this to them," Rik insisted. "It's wrong, and you know it."_

"_I am doing this for the good of our whole _species, _Rikalo," I replied, glancing up from the latest set of forms. "I thought you would realize that by now. We're happy, our race is growing, and the humans are happy also."_

"_Oh let's not sugar coat it, they're sex slaves in a gilded cage yah moron," Rik growled at me, making my guards tense behind him. "I'm presentin' my proposal to the Council tonight, and I already have three of them who agreed to it."_

"_You want us to go back to _producing_ children?" I demanded. "We are not machines Rikalo, and I refuse to let us devolve into Red and Purple's _new method._"_

"_You're right, we ain't machines, if we were then none of this would be happenin'," Rik said, leaning in. "I stood up for you against Red and Purple...I defended you, saved your life ,and helped you climb to the top...but now I'm starting to think you are not the same person I met back in training."_

"_I haven't changed Rik, I adapted," I insisted. "I thought you would understand the need to maintain our people-"_

"_Not at the cost of becomin' the new villain," Rik said coldly. "...You have changed, way too much...I just pray you change again before this is over; before it ends up bein' a repeat of what happened the last time Irkens had an argument like this."_

_I growled, standing up and towering over Rik-it never intimidated him, nothing did. The Champion of the Irkens stood his ground against me when others would have fled or cried for forgiveness...he was never scared of me, which was how it always was. "I am saving our people Rik, and the humans have benefited as well. Can't you see that?" I paused. "No...you haven't even bred with them, have you?"_

"_No, and I don't intend to." Rik crossed his arms. "And I know why you want me to: if the Champion does it, and the Emperor does it, then it _must_ be the right thing to do..." He slammed his right fist down on the desk. "Humans become chattel, and friends become political assets, that's the core of your _great empire of tolerance_ you vrik na tishanti!"_

_One of the guards stepped forward and grabbed Rik by the arm, tugging him back only for Rik to spin clockwise and slam his left fist into his face, knocking him down. The other one didn't even manage to try an attack before Rik jammed his right fist into the area under his sternum doubling the guard over before his elbow met him on the way down and knocked him backward. A front kick to the ribs knocked the guard out, and Rik faced me again._

_It had been so sudden, I hadn't been prepared for it until my guards were unconscious. But when he took a step towards me my spiders began to spin their silk, leaping onto the desk and stopping as if warning Rik to keep his distance. We stood in a face off..._

"_I'll see you at the council meeting," Rik growled. "Sorry, but you won't be able to wet your willy with a human after I'm done makin' my point." He turned and stormed out of my office._

_He was going to set us back to making smeets from pods! He always told me he would stand by me, he told me that he would be loyal, my partner in the revolution that destroyed our planet..._

_All lies, Rik lied to me..._

_He had to be stopped, he had to be stopped before he ruined everything we had built!_

_Everything that he had helped me build._

Xxx

_**Now that wasn't from Rik's past, it was from somebody else's past, but Rik was in it...now if you were to ask Rik about it he wouldn't know what you were talking about and probably cart you off to a mental institution. Bear in mind...this story is limited by ones imagination. If you have seen other worlds, witnessed the efforts of other heroes and villains, you'll have a good idea whose memory it was. To those who know, no spoiling it!**_

_**Oh...and this person...the one who you just saw the memory of...he too had a big part to play.**_

_**And I can give you a hint in this rant. If a person commits murder, they are evil, no? Usually the answer is yes, there is no denying that murder is wrong. But what happens when the victim did something to the killer, intentionally hurting him while claiming it is for the greater good. Now there are two points of view in this: The victim who is doing what he thinks is right by hurting the killer, and the killer who believes he is doing the right thing by killing the one who has hurt him. Now, the kicker...the victim intended for the killer to break, and then do his bidding; he tried to tame him.**_

_**I know, bad example, but it does certainly match the actions of this person with whom Rik supposedly argued. Add another piece to that 7 piece puzzle of the galaxy, that's the second person responsible for how the galaxy is now.**_

_**As I said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this one had them up the wazoo! That makes it all the worse when things come crashing down and you are forced to look in the mirror and accept that you are the real problem. Well...you'll find out everything soon, for now you'd better damn well read! Read now!**_

_**Welcome to part two of the New Path Arc.**_

Xxx

"Rik...Rik..."

Rik opened his eyes and met BlackJack's matching red ones. "...if you're here to put the moves on me, do realize you're not the first to try."

"Don't flatter yourself," She stood up. "We're almost at the target destination, some place called Lepata."

"Lepata...Lepata...sounds like a vacation planet or somethin'," Rik mumbled, getting off his bed. "Do yah mind?"

"What, shy?" BlackJack asked as he got dressed. "Do you always sleep in the nude?...and why's that tattoo on your knee?" She tapped it. "Oh wait...a prison bar code...actually ten prison bar codes."

"Uh...I collect them?" Rik shrugged before pulling the rest of his clothes on. "All of which of course are acquired through various reckless activities."

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you, now get to the bridge...oh and nice ass," BlackJack stepped out of his room.

Xxx

Lepata was the third habitable world in the system. The name was Meekroobian, and nobody was able to find a way to translate to that language...

It's hard to make a Meekroobian talk when the whole species is extinct or in hiding. Rik personally believed the latter, the Meekroob just needed one of their number to survive in order to revive their whole species. One could split into a thousand, and within a decade that thousand into a million. At some point they could will themselves to split into few numbers so as not to overpopulate...after they reached 9 or 10 trillion.

Lepata itself looked...rather nice, if not a little stormy...all over the whole planet. There were few regions with sunlight for more than several hours every day, and most of the continents had repeated floods of lower areas and flood plains.

"This weather is...weird," Loe said. "Like...very weird. I mean this isn't naturally occurring."

"Looks normal to me," Zafre muttered, flossing around one of his fangs.

"No...a planet like this is akin to most worlds where weather is acceptable for colonization," Drosco shook his head. "The Meekroob would never colonize here."

"Well there is an energy signature on the surface...not Meekroobian in origin," Lerak said as he analyzed the world. "Unknown energy signature...that's a first, I thought nobody was making up anything new these days?"

"Unknown you say?" Loe turned in his seat. "Oh no, it's unknown, what could it be? We're all doomed, _who is flying this thing?_" He blinked in faux comprehension. "Oh right, that's me, now stop talking or I'll turn this ship around."

"When will Elay's ship show up?" Rik asked.

"By our count...in forty minutes," BlackJack said. "Your girlfriend is reacquainting herself with some of the weapons in the back. For a house wife she's not bad."

"Before she was a house wife she was on cooky character," Rik nodded. "And by cooky I mean reasonably violent and crazy hot."

"So what the hell happened to you two?"

"Her husband found out." Rik replied casually.

"...oh..." BlackJack nodded. "I see..."

"I can land us in the general area of the power source," Loe informed them. "But after that whoever steps out might be stuck down there until they either find a clear landing zone or they find that power source. If it's the cause of this, switch it off."

"Is something powerful enough to manipulate the weather?" Drosco asked.

"If it's using nanites spread throughout the atmosphere to generate and stabilize this weather, then yes," Lerak nodded before the Ranger jolted. "Hitting atmosphere, we're gonna have a lot more turbulence after we hit the cloud cover so buckle in."

Janie rushed in, changed out of her pink dress and into a black full body suit used for protection against basic elements. Rik would give her some armour to go with it in case she might need it later. She sat down when Rik told her to buckle up, knowing that when Rik or somebody on his team told you to do something: you do it.

The ship jolted again, and the sun was blocked out as the Ranger dove down into the white clouds. Quickly darkness was all that could be seen outside of the anterior canopy. Several lights illuminated the bridge, allowing the team to keep working.

"Alright...closing on surface," Loe announced. "Who's heading out?"

"Me, BlackJack and Zafre," Rik said.

"Perhaps I should go also," Drosco offered. "I do have my methods of persuasion...outside of the norm. Sheyi pride ourselves on causing enemies to lay down their arms."

"Fine, but get something more protective on," Rik nodded. "If you don't get shot you'll die on your feet long before that in this weather."

Drosco nodded and stepped out, somehow keeping his balance despite the turbulence.

"I want to go to!" Janie insisted.

"Loe can't keep the ship stable on his own," Rik shook his head. "Stay with him until we get back darlin', I still have to get you back to your man."

Janie's antennae drooped as she looked down, disappointed and embarrassed. She thought Rik did not think she could handle fighting.

"If we have a problem though, get down there and help us out," That made her perk up a bit.

"Alright Rik, I'll wait up here," She said.

"Everybody else get loaded up and to the air lock." Rik got out of his chair, grasping it or onto consoles on his way out of the bridge to keep on balance.

Xxx

The Ranger set down in the valley where the energy source originated from. It hovered over a clearing perhaps 50 yards from the source. The air lock on the port side opened, and four cables were lowered to the ground, set up by a mechanical pulley. Rik, clad in body armour and a helmet nodded to the rest of the team before stepping backwards out into open air. The cable lowered him down to the ground, and the other three Irkens followed quickly.

All four of them had added a layer of a material called 'Protective Paste' to their flesh in case they became exposed to the water-which unlike Murderworld's water was not modified to avoid burning Irken flesh.

"52 yards to target," BlackJack, wearing a matching armoured suit in place of her usual blouse and skirt.

"And it's _right_ behind the very scary bushes," Zafre, wearing only a hood and long coat to go with his clothes nodded. "My kind of planet. I'll scout ahead." The renegade-and most likely experimental Irken leaped up into the trees, digging his claws into the bark and nimbly moving from branch to branch without pause. Every movement seemed to be natural to the fanged Irken.

"Alright, I'll take lead, Drosco stays between you and me." Rik said to BlackJack, and they followed after Zafre.

Drosco wore thicker clothes that he had packed, including a hood and proper boots and gloves. Despite how he was supposed to be an elite pleasure drone of sorts, Drosco seemed to be trained in survival to an extent from what Rik could observe. The Sheyi Master seemed to be withholding much about himself, but as it did not apply to the mission at hand he did not push for answers. The Ranger took off as they left the landing zone behind.

They met with Zafre on the other side of the thick bushes full of thorns-which Rik cleared away with his hands and feet so Drosco didn't get cut to pieces by the large thorns. The Irken beckoned them forward and point down from the cliff edge he stood at. Below was a tower that stuck out of a great abyss that went down so far it was impossible to see the bottom.

"Wow..." BlackJack whispered as she stared at the top of the tower, which at first glance looked like a conductor for lightning, but nothing struck it. Instead the scanner in her helmet showed something coming off of it. "My motion sensor is showing movement, as in something moving from the tower..."

"Nanites," Rik nodded. "Lots of them, crazy amounts actually. It looks like we found the cause of this weather."

"So what do we do now?" Zafre looked back at them. "You're the leader, and by Tallest Envon's orders I'll follow your lead."

"Ok, three front plant," Rik nodded. "Zafre, got explosives on you?"

"Two demolition charges like you said," Zafre nodded. "But I might need a lot more than that to crack this thing."

"BlackJack, you have the extras?" Rik looked at his de facto second in command-there was no use denying her position after working with her for this long.

"Here," She tossed a bag of charges to Zafre. "Make them count."

"I will."

"Place as many as you can and then set them all off," Rik said. "This is a standard Terraformer model, but it's only supposed to keep a planet stable until a permanent terraforming is finished."

He knelt by the edge of the cliff and pulled a small claw shaped device out of it. "And it's finished already so this is obviously just a defensive system; I doubt we'll be at risk if it goes off line." He held the device up and tapped a button on it, making the claws flex, and it hopped out of his hand and scuttled like a spider over to the nearest tree. The main body of the device revealed a drill that dug deep into the tree, allowing it to create a cavity after several seconds. It inserted itself inside and then extended a loop tipped cable out. Rik took it and clipped it to a long cable he removed from his pack.

"Drosco, take a few of these and set them up on the cliff edge," He reached into his pack and gave him several folded up apparatuses. "Just place it on the ground, unfold them, position them at the edge, and slip our lines through the pulley after we unhook ourselves. They'll help pull us back up for when we leave, otherwise the cables will tear on the rock edge. Take some of the cables from your pack and slip it through a few more in case we have to bring more than one extra person up."

"I'll get to it, but afterwards I intend to accompany you down assuming that it is safe," Drosco nodded and got to work.

"BlackJack, you and I are headin' down to the bottom to scout for an entrance," Rik said as BlackJack repeated the procedure with the robotic hook Rik had used. "Have your rifle ready."

"Done," She hefted the weapon as they both lowered the lengths of their cables down over the edge until they ran out of length. Zafre by then had left to find a position high enough on the surrounding walls of the ravine to leap to the tower and Drosco was setting up two of the pulley mechanisms.

"Drop a flare down first," BlackJack said. "To see if we might have to climb down."

Rik produced one of the flares from his belt and lit it, dropping the glowing green signal flare down and watching as it grew smaller until it was a small dot of green in the darkness below. "...well it ain't extraordinarily long, we might have to jump a few feet."

"It'll make getting the target up harder," BlackJack replied. "I hope they have another way out."

"If they do, then I had Drosco set those pulleys up for nothing." Rik mumbled so the Sheyi Master would not hear him. If he was as good at fighting as the two Sheyi who had been assaulted by the Shadow Spies back on Murderworld he did not want to anger the orange eyed Irken.

They both hooked themselves in and began to slowly slide down the cables.

Xxx

The cables were five feet short. Rik grasped the cable and nodded to BlackJack. "Alright, disconnect and jump, the ground looks flat." He was judging this based off of what little light the flare still offered.

They both dropped down, and found that he had been right. They looked around the bottom of the ravine, which was fairly barren except for the base of the tower and several other small structures surrounding it.

"Those look like old Vortian generators," BlackJack commented before a red flare dropped near them. They glanced up and saw Drosco sliding down on a third line...rather expertly.

"Envon definitely trained that guy," Rik shook his head. "Are Sheyi informants or commandos?"

"I think they're both," BlackJack shrugged. "Come on, let's head inside."

They waited for Drosco to reach the bottom and then made their way to the structured around the tower's base. As BlackJack had claimed, they were all Vortian made and older models, some as old as a century in design.

"Looks modified," Drosco said after opening a panel on the side of one. "And designed to collect thermal energy."

"How do you know that just by looking at it?" Rik glanced back at Drosco, holding his rifle at the side with the barrel pointed down.

"Because it says so right here," Drosco rapped his knuckle on a label on the inside of the panel door. "Model 76 Thermal Absorption Unit. And a lot of the pieces inside are Irken or...even a few Planet Jacker components."

"Hey, boys!" They turned to see BlackJack by one of the small structures, this one looking like a small shack. "There's a door here!" She grasped the handle.

"Wait!" Rik rushed over to her with Drosco at his heels. "Let's think this through carefully."

"He is right," Drosco nodded. "Whoever constructed this must be a genius of some renown, we should proceed with caution. They most likely have traps arranged if they do not have a security force of any-"

Suddenly the ground shifted under them.

"...kind?" Drosco squeaked, looking down before the ground opened up, and all three of them plummeted down with a cry of shock.

Xxx

"Ow..." Rik opened his eyes. "Aw damn...oldest trick in the book and I fell for it...crap."

He looked around the cell he, BlackJack and Drosco were in. Their armour was still on, but their weapons and helmets were gone. Drosco was on the only bed in the cell...most likely because their captor wanted to be as nice as possible to the captive Sheyi.

BlackJack stirred. "...shit."

"My thoughts exactly," Rik helped her up. "Well Drosco was right; we're dealin' with somebody who knows what they are doing."

"_HAH! You're awake, and ready to be _tormeeeenteeed!" The speaker drew out the last word to make it sound dramatic.

"...why did that sound familiar?" Rik wondered aloud.

"_Eh?_ _That voice...so familiar...did you make out with an Irken girl named Tenn?"_

"No that'd be Lok you're thinking of...if you're part of the graduating class at the academy from the year I'm thinkin' of." Rik frowned.

"You know this guy?" BlackJack demanded as she tested the metal bars of the cell.

"Maybe, I have a pretty damn good idea who this is..." Rik mumbled.

"_Hey! If you're part of the graduating class from 98 years ago then who accidently dropped those bombs down the waste disposal unit and got the academy neck deep in waste material?_" The disembodied captor demanded.

"..._Accidently_ is not the proper word for that event," Rik nodded. "That'd be me."

"_And that was done by a cadet named..._"

"Rikalo?" Rik finished.

"_RIKALO!" _ The captor proclaimed dramatically. "_Wait, Rikalo?...are you sure you didn't make out with Tenn? I'm sure his name started with an R..._"

"Nope, that was Cadet Lok," Rik shook his head. "But I think I did make out with that one girl in the janitor's closet...that was Zee if I remember."

"_Wait? Zee! Now I remember you! Rikalo!"_ The speaker growled.

"Hint, everybody," Rik whispered to BlackJack and the now conscious Drosco who was looking around in confusion. "It's easier to remember a guy by the name of the girl he made out with, especially on Irk."

"Ok..." BlackJack leaned forward against the bars. "So who is this guy?"

"Well if he's from the same year as me and has lived this long..." Rik's eyes widened. "Oh dear mother of Miyuki...I was right, I know who this is."

"_Yes! Yeeesss! Say it! Say it puny Rikalo!"_

"You're one to talk about being puny," Rik's eyes narrowed as a figure stepped into view in the corridor outside of the cell. "_Zim._"

Xxx

End of chapter!

Yes, Zim has arrived!


	10. New Path Arc, Promise Made

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced)** Belthiad, a bounty hunter. **And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

Caterpillar (ngrey651)

Don't worry, Zim will lighten up this story a bit.

Xxx

"_How...HOW COULD YOU?" I shrieked at him as he stood there, looking down at the burning planet._

"_It was the final loose end," He shrugged. "...you brought this on yourself...and upon them."_

_I managed to rise up and slam into him, holding him up by the neck. "You _murder_ them all, to a child! How could you do this to them?"_

"_I told you that you would pay, didn't I?" He asked, not even trying to break free. "I told you...for everything did to me...I would take away your precious utopia of glass...and show you the reality of what you do."_

"_I didn't murder any humans," I hissed._

"_No...you did much worse," He shook his head. "You took away their lives...with a smile, and left empty shells." He chuckled. "What I did...was mercy...and justice...all rolled into one." Suddenly one of his eyes gleamed with that demented glee that he had when he first came in here. "Mercy for the humans, and justice for what you did to me!"_

_Suddenly I was kicked in the chin, chopped on the top of the head, and then kicked in the face in the span of a second. I was stunned, slammed into my own desk before he stood over me, his gun jammed in my face._

"_You never were as good at fighting without your powers...that's why you had me become your Champion, remember?" He sneered._

"_Go ahead..." I whispered. "Go ahead...it'll be a slow death for all of us thanks to you..."_

_..._

"_No," He holstered the gun. "I'd rather watch you bawl like the little baby you are."_

_He stepped away from me and walked back to the view port that showed Earth. Irken vessels flew all over, trying to find survivors. They found them...all Irken survivors. The humans had been dead before the planet was torched at all._

"_Such a complex...and dangerous thing, oxygen is," He mused. "Decrease the oxygen content, you implode. Increase it...you combust. And it just took one second for all of Earth to burn...I think all of the Irkens caught outside died quickly though."_

"_M-monster-"_

"_I gave them a quick death...which is more than you can say," He glared at me, all of his hatred rolled into those two red orbs. "I stood up for you all the way...I would have killed to protect you...you were like a brother to me and you tossed me aside the moment I didn't agree with you..." He tilted his head. "Did you think I was your attack dog? Is that why you thought you could tame me? Just beat me until I attack only the people you want me to maul?" He spat on the floor. "...get a reality check, comrade...and then you can come and hunt me down for this."_

_He turned away again, pulling out a small device from his coat._

"_How...did you do it?" I asked weakly. "How did you kill them all...without the fire?"_

_He slowly turned my way again. "...the same way you manipulate them into loving you, into carrying children for you." He smiled, but it was empty, without any warmth that it once carried. "I made them love me so much, just for a few seconds...that when I asked them to, they all lied down and died." His smile vanished. "Irony, ain't it? Your last plan to subjugate them...and I used it to end itself. Good luck building your empire now."_

_As he tapped in a command, he offered one last comment. "I told you, you wouldn't be wetting your dick on another human again."_

_And so Rikalo, our Champion, my best friend since the academy teleported out of the room. He left me to look on in sorrow at the destroyed home of the Human Race...he had started that fire to eliminate any chance of cloning, of course...there was no genetic material of the human race left now. My people were back to square one, all alone..._

_Alone._

Xxx

_**Now my comparison from before is explained in greater detail. Now again to anybody who can figure this out, keep your mouths shut or I'll-oh what the hell I can't do a thing anyways...but if you tell, the story ends here! So...the second composer of the galactic symphony of chaos experienced great loss...but this is not how he is responsible, no...he already committed the action that damned him to be held responsible for the galaxy at large. It was done against Rikalo...and oh let me tell you, despite how bad it was, he comforted himself by saying it was all for the greater good...**_

_**The greater good sure likes to forget the little guy, doesn't it? The Third World produces most of the food consumed by the First World countries...all to feed a few countries, leave many countries to starve.**_

_**There's your Greater Good Comparison. This villain did what he thought was right and disregarded doing the morally right thing in favour of his personal gain even if he had more than enough already, going as far as to turn his back on Rik. Their argument became a full blown fight...a war...an extermination of the human race.**_

_**Now read on, and you will find out who this second composer is within the next several chapters.**_

Xxx

"Zim?" BlackJack demanded. "You went to school with Zim? _The_ Zim?"

"Yeah," Rik growled. "Zim, former food drone, former scientist, former Invader...and now apparently the guy everybody's out to get besides me these days."

"Get? So the Irken Empire hasn't forgotten me then? Grand!" Zim chuckled.

"I think they'll have a heart attack when they see you Zim," Rik said. "Now you're taller than a smeet for once." Zim was only a half foot shorter than Rik. "Not to mention you're still alive. When you stopped calling from Earth, people thought you crawled into a hole and died."

But Kay had told Rik that Zim had fled Earth after his last, and most devastating plan had failed. "Oh and by the way, the humans are still alive, not much of an Invader, are you?"

"I would have succeeded if it wasn't for a few setbacks," Zim grumbled. "And when I am done here I will finish what I started with that idiotic Dib with his huge head. He is the first on Zim's list!"

Dib was the one who had freed Kay...he was definitely on Rik's list of people to protect from Zim then-among his own crew and most associates who he actually liked a bit.

"So what brings you to this planet, Rikalo?" Zim asked. "Can't be an Invader job, this planet has nothing of interest to the Armada and I chased the Meekroob off of it decades ago!"

"We came to find a D1 Irken," Drosco answered honestly.

"D1? Huh?"

"...it means an Irken who is highly wanted..."

"Ah! It must be Zim!"

"And is a Defective," BlackJack added.

That deflated Zim's bubble ego. He groaned. "You make one mistake on Impending Doom and the Tallest label you for life. That was decades ago!"

"Uh...Zim?" Rik cleared his throat. "You kinda...wiped out _all_ the Invaders from that generation. I'm only alive because I was put in Arcani with a third of the class, and Lok got his own team."

"Oh get over it Rikalo," Zim gestured one hand dismissively. "That was the past, things change, and all that jazz. Have you come to collect a form of bounty?"

"Not exactly," Rik shook his head. "We were sent to rescue you by Tallest Blue."

"Who?" Zim blinked. "What of Tallests Purple and Red?"

"Uh..." How could he tell Zim about the empire being fractured without making him use some freaky machine on them while screaming that they were liars? "Zim you're not gonna like this so I'm gonna go ahead and invoke Invader Code 355 on our PAKs."

Zim stiffened as he processed the command. "Ah, the code of truth! Very well, I too invoke Code 355!"

It was an old command phrase that required both the word itself and for the Irken to trust the one who made the command. Rik didn't wory about Zim lying, but if Zim was a little suspicious then it would not work. If he entirely trusted Rik when he had used the command however, there would be no trouble.

"Yeah, keeps us Irkens from lyin' or anythin' like that, and saves plenty of time," Rik nodded. "But to support that, I am having Drosco tell you. He's a Sheyi."

"Ah, the Sheyi! Zim heard of them," Zim nodded. "They are supposed to be elite Pleasure Drones of renown!...you have them on a mission?"

"He was sent in case you got violent with us," Rik said.

"And the Sheyi are healers of the spirit," Drosco said gently. "We help people to deal with their inner-"

"Yeahyeahyeah don't start with that," Zim spat his tongue out. "I am a scientist and Invader, I believe in technology, not spirit mumbo jumbo!"

"...I meant their emotional issues," Drosco rolled his eyes, not happy with being rudely interrupted.

"That too,"

"Zim, as a Sheyi I am not allowed to lie to a client, so I will claim you as a client just so I can tell you without risk of being accused of lying."

"Stop beating around the bushes and tell me then!"

"...Tallest Purple is dead and the empire has been fractured," Drosco said. "Civil war has raged for decades and former slaves of the Old Empire have risen up and freed themselves. There are precisely twelve Irken 'Nations' now, fighting for control."

Zim stared at them for several seconds...

"...AH!" He let out a long scream, hands on the side of his head as he fell to his knees. "HOW? HOW-HOW-HOW?"

After Zim stopped for more than a second, Rik felt he could continue.

"...Tallest Purple was assassinated and another Tallest tried to stage a coup against Red," He explained. "Soon enough Irkens came to be tall enough to rival him and started fighting for control. Add to the war against the Meekroobians-who thankfully are dead now. They tried to take advantage of the civil war, and Tenn finished her mission and pretty much blew their world to pieces. The problem is that the Empire's power over most of its slave races is broken."

"GAH! This is awful!" Zim groaned, whining as he looked at them. "Why didn't anyone call me? I find out about this _now_?"

"Well...people thought you were dead and nobody knew you were out here until Red and Tallest Shadow found out and started making a big ass fleet to hunt you down." BlackJack said.

"Hm? My Tallest has sent a fleet to rescue Zim?"

"No, no, Zim!" Drosco said urgently. "You're too dangerous in anybody's hands."

Rik spun a lie. "Yeah, they don't want another Tallest to command you. They think it's just easier to kill you...but Tallest Blue wants you alive! He sent us to rescue you."

"Hm..." Zim bit his lower lip. "What kind of leader is this Blue? Are his interests for the good of the empire?"

"Well...if by ending the civil war, then yes," Rik nodded. "He's got a bit fleet."

"A dedicated army," BlackJack supported Rik's claim.

"He's very popular!" Drosco said quickly.

"He's tall!"

"He's strong!"

"He's handsome!"

"Charismatic!"

"He loves puppies!"

"He...he's fathered 56 smeets!" Ok now things were going a little _too_ far.

"He's..he..."

"And he freed the Vortians from slavery!" Drosco blurted out before he realized his mistake and slapped a hand over his own mouth as Rik and BlackJack glared at him. "...sorry."

"_What!_ Vortians? What kind of a Tallest would compromise with the _defeated_ or decide to free the greatest tech slaves_ ever_?"

"...well they give him all sorts of cool weapons and ships that actually work...and the cloning facilities were kinda destroyed," BlackJack explained. "So he probably hopes they can find a way to rebuild them."

"Wha? Huh?" Zim stared at them, awaiting an elaboration.

"None of the Irken Nations have a smeetery now Zim," Rik said. "They were all destroyed, and the schematics erased from the database. And we all know a regular cloning tank won't make a functioning Irken." The real process was a lot more complex, blending a new born fetus with technology to make it compatible with a PAK...essentially making a cyborg. A regular cloning process would take months to produce a smeet, and they would have short lives and defects by the dozen...crippling defects.

"Without reverting to the old ways, the Irken race is pretty much screwed between the fights, the riots, the food shortages, and all the Tallests out to kill anybody who isn't part of their own empire. Heck they actually have Breeding Drones to try and make up for it."

"Which by the way kills 9 out of 10 born smeets," Drosco muttered, sniffing. "Poor smeeties..."

"Irkens haven't reproduced at such a rate for a long time..." Zim rubbed his chin.

It was not exactly a secret that some Irkens retained the ability to give birth ever since Miyuki had recruited hundreds of willing females to a 'Renaissance' experiment to restore Irken fertility. Rumours stated that Miyuki had successfully given birth...but many of the volunteers had partially successfully production abilities; their children carried this trait also, and managed to be compatible with a PAK after some minor operations. It was forbidden to mate naturally with them, but as they were protected by the Decrees of Miyuki they could not be persecuted and in fact had to be protected from harm. Failure to meet these standards would have resulted in Red and Purple having an existence evaluation.

"And nobody knows how to deal with it," Rik said. "Zim...I didn't realize this until we brought the topic up...but you might be the only one with the expertise needed in Genetic Engineering. It might be the only way for us to spawn a healthy smeet again."

"Ah ha! So now it falls to the almighty Zim to save the Irken Race?" Zim sighed. "I would love to, but I cannot."

"_What_?"

"Zim gave his word as an Invader to an ally that he would not leave this planet until she was repaired!" Zim declared, striking a dramatic pose. "As much as I would like to help the Empire, the word of an Irken Invader is the word of all dynasties of Tallests dating back to Tallest Blood!"

"Wait...you have an ally here?" Rik leaned forward. "Zim let us outta here so we can talk, we're all friends here."

"Ah...fine. But tell that experiment or whatever the hell it is to stop putting bombs on my Weather Tower!" Zim demanded. "It took Zim five years to build it and lots of funds from his Paste Company!"

"Wait..." Drosco blinked. "You own the Protective Paste Company?"

"Yes!" Zim nodded, opening the cell by putting his hand on a panel next to it. "I have ever since I found how effective at protecting Irkens from H2O, or as humans call it, water. Our most common weakness and the reason why we have so much trouble conquering aquatic planets!" He chuckled. "Who would think a species as dumb as the humans would have a way to counter it?"

"Uh...on the topic of humans being dumb...they reverse engineered a crap load of your tech and they're travellin' through space according to a reliable source of mine." Rik said.

Zim gasped. "Dib! If I don't get court-martialled for introducing Irken technology to a primitive society I will see him pay for this!"

"Don't worry about it Zim, Blue's pretty lenient," Rik assured him.

"Fine..." Zim relaxed. "Now follow me."

He led them away from the cell. "So tell me Rikalo, how else has Irken society changed?"

"Well like we said, there's been a development of Breedin' Drones ever since a few ladies accidently got pregnant..." Rik did not add the possibility that he may have had a part in that during his 'wild years' before he met De Rien...or the fact that he himself had two kids. "So aside from the Irken Nations there are a few outer powers lookin' to make a name for themselves but the larger ones usually bomb them into nothin' and take all the crap that's left."

"Blue and his nation have survived by supporting rebellions in other Irken nations, and with help from the Vortians," Drosco added. "In exchange for their release they supplied new technology, weapons, FTL technology, and medicine needed for the Blue Empire to survive. It has the highest fertility rate thus far."

"Hm...at least this Blue is a smart ruler, but still, to ally with filthy _Skaatel_..." Zim mumbled some more cursed. "Ah, here we are!" He led them out of the prison block and into a command center. "Welcome to the Fortress of Zim."

"Saw that comin'," Rik mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said continue," Rik nodded.

"Zim has hidden here for forty years ever since I managed to turn the humans' nuclear power against their own planet," Zim narrated. "Unfortunately the ally was not immune to the radiation like an Irken despite my improvement to her body. So I have remained here in solitude to repair her, keeping her in a Chrono-Stasis Beam so she would not degrade. I managed to arrange for the Protective Paste to be sold-all of the transactions being made by my computer so I would not waste time. It has made Zim fortunes, enough to purchase automated deliveries of parts ,food, and other essentials to this location."

"Gotta admit Zim, this is a pretty good operation you have goin' here," Rik nodded, impressed.

"Thank you, now on to..._the Medical Bay_." Zim said darkly, leading them out through a door on their left and down a flight of metal stairs into a room with a line of beds along one wall. There was medical equipment piled at the back, and in the middle was a green pillar of light. It was A Chrono-Stasis beam, and within it was a form...

"Behold, Zim's Ally," Zim said.

"Is that...?"

"Yes, a human."

"I was gonna say a cyborg, but that answers another few questions," Rik nodded.

"The only human who Zim had thought worthy to survive the destruction of her race," Zim said as he walked over to the beam and deactivated it with a remote. "Behold...Gaz!"

A purple haired girl fell to the floor. She had pale skin, and her hair seemed to have grown out. She was almost as tall as BlackJack, and seemed to have developed in a similar way to an Irken woman. Her body had soft curves to it, highlighted by the black bodysuit she wore. Her feet and hands were bare, but on her left palm was an Irken tattoo that marked her as property of the Irken Race-or at least the old Empire.

She had a single thin scar passing her left eye going down to her jawline. Her facial features were more pronounced than an Irken's, mostly thanks to the added features she had such as a nose and eye brows along with the different skull shape. Scanners displayed images of her body on screens, showing damaged areas, and registering that her condition was degrading.

"Damaged in battle and with radiation poisoning," Zim shook his head. "I've had to keep her in stasis for the last forty years except for performing operations to prolong her life. I have not had any luck. And the field may allow me to combat the radiation one step at a time, but she still ages slightly within it. By now she has aged nearly a decade."

"...actually radiation poisoning of this magnitude is a simple process to cure nowadays," Drosco said, placing a hand on Zim's shoulder. "With your permission, I could help you."

"What would a 'spirit healer' know of Radiation treatment?"

"The Sheyi are more than healers and pleasure drones Zim, they're trained by Tallest Blue himself! This guy is his _advisor_," Rik emphasized his point. "And I saw two of his students take on two fully armed Irkens twice their size...or at least I saw them drag them in after they were done beating them up."

"And I am adequately trained in medical technologies among other things," Drosco added. "I could modify your treatment method if you are using a nano-machine injection process."

Zim nodded, impressed. "Indeed Zim is!"

"Perfect, I will need an hour to begin the process," Drosco said with a smile. "And after that we can move her to the Ranger and continue the process until she has been treated completely."

"Huh? Move? Hold it right there! I'm not going anywhere until the Gaz-Human is back on her feet and able to fight!" Zim snapped.

"...and there will be two Armadas, one from the biggest Irken Nation in the galaxy, and one full of Psychic Torture Experts who will break every bone in your hands, feet and limbs let rats feast on you, rip the scalp and eyelids from your head, possibly let your eyes dry and pluck them out, and then rape you to death." BlackJack shuddered. "And if you are lucky it will be in that order."

"...what's the fastest way back to your ship?" Zim asked quickly.

"It's stuck in flight because of your weather machine," Rik replied.

"Zim shall deactivate that when we are ready to leave," Zim said hesitantly.

Suddenly Gaz began to squirm on the ground, perspiring and breathing heavily. Some of her glossy purple hair was on the

"We must begin as soon as possible!" Zim said, reactivating the Chrono-Stasis Field.

"How long can a CS Field stabilize her for?" Rik asked as Drosco walked over to a device at the end of the medical bay.

"Perhaps for several more years," Zim replied after calculating in his head. "By then there would be no treating it."

"I'm guessing antibiotics and stem cell transplants didn't work?" Rik asked.

"If it were normal human generated material that this radiation originated from, it would have worked and Zim would have left," Zim shook his head. "I modified the nuclear arsenal of Earth, augmenting it with power cores from by own base. This increased their effectiveness...all too much."

"I see..." Rik nodded. "...for such a genius, you're a real idiot."

"Don't remind me," Zim whispered, his back to Rik.

Xxx

_**I know you've never had this in the story so far, but we are in need of a little foreshadowing...**_

_**It relates to our mystery composer, so sit back and enjoy his opera.**_

_**Call it filler if you want, neither I nor 'The Young Man at the Desk' give a damn either way.**_

Xxx

Paneece had gone to her brother's new Irken Nation the moment she had heard that he had become a Tallest. It was better than staying in the Crimson Quadrant where blue eyed Irkens-which were already discriminated against would become a target of hatred by all other eye colours. It was ridiculous, but powerful enough to send her running to Envon. He gave her a home on one of his core worlds, a paying job...it was actually very nice. She worked at the R&D Center for Medical Technologies, sponsored and funded by Tallest Blue-or as she knew him, Tallest Envon.

It was in fact her modified treatment that Drosco was planning to use to help Gaz on the other side of the galaxy. She had developed it after some species reverted to using nuclear stockpiles or cutting reactor containment on their ships in order to move faster despite having a risk of blowing up or getting radiation sickness. This put Blue Soldiers at risk, and so she adapted medical treatments to save lives-which she had actually, saved tens of thousands of to this day.

"Here we go," She said as she placed the syringe into the case held by a Captain of the Blue Army. "You can divide that into ten smaller syringes for your field test. Have your soldiers take this after they're done and they'll clean the radiation out without any cell damage."

"Good work again, Science Officer Paneece," The Captain smiled-he always did that, give her a charming smile when he visited. "I'll have the boys send you a gift over if this works."

"Ooh, I'll be waiting on it then," She grinned, turning away to hide the dark green blush on her face as the Captain said his farewells and left the lab.

"Captain Tola was coming on to you again," Paneece's partner whispered.

"Oh come on Vielle, we have a hundred more of those syringes to prepare," Paneece sighed. "Tallest Blue wants a large scale field test after the first one is done, to see if there is the slightest chance of failure."

"Well unless the subject has a fatal reaction to nanites injections he should be fine," Vielle shrugged. "You should go and relax Panny, I can handle loading the syringes, it's an automated process anyways and you've been here for five days."

"Maybe you're right..." Paneece mumbled. "My PAK's close to being on emergency power." She yawned. "Alright...I'll head home."

"See you around!" Vielle waved as Paneece left, lazily waving back to her.

But after the doors vanished Vielle's smile fell, and she swallowed. "Panny...I'm so sorry." She shook, a tear forming in one eye, only for a clawed hand to slowly reach down and gently wipe it away.

"Sh..." A voice whispered, hushing her. "It's ok...I know it was hard to do that to her...you really are a true friend, you're just scared is all."

"Please...don't hurt her..." Vielle whimpered, hugging herself, dropping the device she had used to silently drain Paneece's power levels over the past day-if she hadn't Paneece would have been able to operate for another week or so.

"I won't...she will be happy, I promise you," The assailant smiled as he picked the device up. "Your child is safe back home now, Vielle...as I promised."

Vielle fell to her knees, sobbing as she felt a hand gently caress her antennae.

"To have the rare gift of fertility...I almost considered taking you," He shook his head. "But I need somebody who is pure...somebody uncorrupted...somebody who isn't a failed experiment." He hugged her. "I need an Irken...of _royal_ blood...and this one shall be treated as the queen she should be when I am done. Let your guilt float away...you have saved many lives with this act. It is natural to feel regret for tricking a friend."

Slowly Vielle began to feel fatigued, her eye lids heavier...

She was scooped up and carried home where she was placed in bed with her husband and son...

The son born with only one eye, the side effect of a defective natural birth.

Xxx

Paneece had changed out of her scientist's uniform and was sitting at her desk at home. She yawned, reaching for the console built into the desk that would start a charging process. She tapped the button, and a touch screen slid out of the top of the desk. She input her code...but found something odd...the date of her last charge...she hadn't noticed it at work but she was recharging early.

The last date was...well let's compared it to being the 1st of March, and today can be compared to the 6th of March when she should have been recharging on the 13th of March instead. She did that every time...right to the very minute. What went wrong? Did she have a power surge that drained her PAK? Did she have to get her PAK fixed or risk having a life where she would consumed twice as much energy to survive? She was practical, she didn't like to waste energy, food, water, material, anything.

She plugged herself in, planning to get her PAK examined at the lab...

And noticed a spider sitting on her desk, staring up at her rather eerily. It did not move at all, it just stared...

She swatted it off of her desk. "Yuck." She leaned back in her chair...only to see two spiders on her desk now. "What the...?"

She stood up and moved to the left, their eyes following her. To the right, they still followed her...

"This is disturbing on so many levels...do I have leftovers from Leez's pheromone experiment on me or something?" She wondered aloud.

"No...you smell quite fine."

Paneece's eyes snapped wide open, and she spun so fast that she snapped the charging cable out of the slot in the desk she had attached it to. She came face to face with what looked to be vaguely Irken, clad in white, a pair of monocles covering his eyes...

Xxx

_**Foreshadowing is over...back to the plot of Rik and his companions...**_

Xxx

"So let me get this straight...you want us...to help _Zim?_" Elay demanded. "How is that freak still alive anyways? How can you ask this of us?"

"I am not askin' you, Elay," Rik ground out. "I am _orderin'_ you to get your ass down here and help set up a defence grid because I'm your damn _Captain!_ Am I understood?"

Elay stiffened. "...yes...sir." She stormed out of the communications room, where she met the rest of the occupants of the small Strike Ship that Envon had leant them. It was fast, though not as fast as the Ranger (which was slower than the Omni-Hunter, as Kay noted in the back of her head), but with greater weapons and shielding.

"Did we hear you right?" Lerak asked slowly. "Did Rik say..._Zim?_"

"He did," Elay nodded. "And we're going to be landing to help establish a defensive perimeter in order to keep Zim safe until he and Drosco can finish a Nano-Machine Radiation Therapy on some 'assistant' of Zim's who is injured."

"Why are we risking our lives for the guy who almost wiped out our species?" Vexus asked calmly.

"Because our Captain has ordered it," Credaran stood. "I know of Zim's actions...but Rikalo is still our leader. And when we agreed to go on this mission, we agreed to answer to him regardless of who we are or what our rank is. If he tells us to protect Zim with our lives...then we must do so."

"Blind faith?" Kronos rolled his eyes. "My mom and dad knew Zim and hated him! He ruined my mom's life!"

"I speak not of blind faith, but of our duty," Credaran growled. "Do not think that I am a fool, dibbun, I know that Rik would not ask us to do this without a justified cause. And that is enough for me to obey him after all of these years."

"..." Kronos looked away, arms crossed. "This bites."

"I know it does...but Credaran is right, we have to do this even if we'd rather kill Zim ourselves," Elay sighed. "I'll set a course for us to land, after that get as many weapons out of the armoury as possible, set up the automated ones and activate the drones we have with us...we might need all of that and more if Rik has us in another crappy situation."

Xxx

"I can't believe you didn't let me blow up the tower," Zafre whined to Rik as they stood in Zim's command center.

"You will soon enough, trust me," Rik assured the renegade. "We'll have to blow this whole base after we leave, so the Armada doesn't get anything of value."

"Indeed! Zim would rather take his chances with this Tallest Blue instead of Red!" Zim said as he rushed back and forth, collecting important data discs and drives from computers and stuffing them into a bag. "All of the important things are packed; everything else can rust away or explode for all Zim cares."

"What else do you have anyways?" Rik asked.

"Oh a whole lot of old experiments I made in my spare time," Zim shrugged.

Rik suddenly had an idea. "Were there any experiments that make a big boom?"

"Why yes, many, but why-" Zim stopped. "Oooooh...if Rikalo is thinking what Zim thinks he is..._then this pleases Zim greatly_."

Xxx

"Petala...a back water ball of dun," Tallest Red of the Crimson Quadrant scoffed. "But that is where our class one priority target is located, and according to my spies that Tallest Blue already sent a team to retrieve him. This is why I called you up."

"_I understand, my Tallest,_" An Irken replied, head bowed and on his left knee, his left palm pressed to the ground with his right one cupping the patella of his right leg as it remains curled against his chest. He has red eyes and wears all an all black ensemble including a long coat that gives him a sort of cape like Envon's. He had boots with metal buckles and light anti-impact armour on his knees and elbows. He also had a black mark under each eye, both pointing in a lateral direction downwards.

(For anybody who never took anatomical terms, Lateral means away from the center of your body, so the marks are pointing outwards)

A pair of swords rested on his beck, crossed in an X shape.

"You've done good for me Irken Belthiad," Rik nodded his approval. "Do this and you'll live the rest of your life in riches."

"Oh don't worry...they're already dead, they just don't know it," Belthiad grinned, showing his large sharp teeth.

"And remember...Zim above all must die," Red insisted.

"I'm the best at that," Belthiad chuckled. "Crushing little bugs under my foot."

The bounty hunter left the bridge of the Massive, which was at the head of an armada of Crimson ships alongside another one made up of darker Shadow ships. The two fleets had one goal: the utter death of Invader Zim. They were on a direct route to Lepata and closing in.

They would be there within two hours.

Xxx

_**So, you figured out some details that were left out. Yes...the Irken race is being undone by it's own stubborn refusal to accept peace, and only those who adapt are having luck at keeping their civilization alive. Envon as you have heard is at the top of that list, or close anyways. The destruction of the Smettery is one of the actions commited that resulted in today's fractured empire...but it is not a crime done by the hand of Envon or the mystery 'emperor' who you are given a chance to read about at the top of this. You will find out who did it soon enough, just you wait...**_

_**Just you wait.**_

Xxx

Fear my cliffhanger of doom!


	11. New Path Arc, Defiance and Abduction

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

Xxx

"_W-where am I?" The Irken is short and a little round around the gut area. He looks around, quivering in sheer terror._

"_Sh...relax..." A soothing voice whispered as a pair of hands massaged his shoulder. The Irken whimpered, but after several moments stopped shivering. "I'm sorry for frightening you Skoodge...we should have just talked to you about this."_

"_What do you want?" Skoodge whimpered._

"_We just want you to help us with something very important," The speaker leaned forward. "You see Skoodge...I am not an ordinary Irken as you can tell."_

_Skoodge nodded quickly._

"_Neither are any other Irkens here," The speaker continued. "We are...what you might call...denizens of an alternate universe."_

"_Alternate...another universe?" Skoodge swallowed._

"_Yes..." The speaker nodded. "And in our universe we were capable of breeding naturally and were quite content to do so...but some people would rather our race die before we have children of our own. So we were rendered sterile. We had a solution...but it was so wrong of us, we forced ourselves on another race, abused its people and turned them into our slaves." He shook his head as he slithered around Skoodge to the front. "I never realized until it was too late...when my own zealous attitude cost an entire species and tens of thousands of Irkens...now I wish for you and other potent Irkens of this universe to help us."_

"_Y-you want me to-" Skoodge began to breathe heavily, struggling against his bonds._

"_No, no, no!" The speaker shook his head quickly. "No Skoodge...we would not force ourselves on you...I merely come to make you an offer..." He let skoodge out of the chair. "Remain among us, for a time at the very least and give a number of our women children to bear. And I will be able to give you something you have always wanted; something that has made you ridiculed despite your best work. We have technology your Empire couldn't dream of..."_

_He showed Skoodge an image of himself...getting taller..taller..._

_Skoodge's jaw dropped. "You-you can really do that?"_

"_Yes..." The speaker smiled. "And if you stay among us for a while and help our women conceive, it will be yours. And after that you may return to your own people-with your memory erased of course. We will let you think you grew on your own." He patted Skoodge on the head. "Or if you'd like you can go home now."_

"_No!" Skoodge shook his head. "I'm sick of it all! I'm the best Invader Red had and he overlooked it just because I'm short! I wanna be tall! I want people to actually respect me for what I do instead of just spit on me! I'll give yah all the smeets yah want if you make me tall!"_

_The speaker smiled. "Alright then Skoodge," He led him to a door. "We'll show you to your quarters, and after some dinner you may begin."_

"_Dinner and sex? Woo hoo!" Skoodge pumped both arms into the air._

_He let the guard escort Skoodge away before a purple eyed Irken woman approached him. She wore a tiara on her head and a purple dress. "Compia...is something wrong?"_

"_The tests came back negative," She shook her head. "This method can only help us for so long, the humans were able to produce more smeets at a sustained rate."_

"_We cannot repeat what was done in our universe," He insisted. "And they are too advanced anyways, we would have to fight them, and I won't fight over how we breed again...not after the last two times. We will find a way to remove this virus..."_

_He gently took the woman into his arms. "We will...or we will die."_

Xxx

_**Ah lucky Skoodge...lucky in several ways actually and soon to be a lot luckier. Now you know that speaker was the 'Emperor', correct? Well we are getting closer and closer to unravelling the mystery. Now you know how he could possibly exist and how he met Rik without actually meeting him...**_

_**For the third time I say 'button your lip' to those who know the full story.**_

_**Now read on and enjoy the damn story!**_

Xxx

"Alright, we have pretty much the whole valley wall rigged with explosives," Elay said, setting down a crate by the main entrance of Zim's base. "If we have to we can cause a rock slide that'll take out anything moving out there, and block the entrance here. We'd better be inside when we do that."

Zim, true to his word had deactivated the Weather Tower so the Ranger and the Strike Ship loaned to them by Envon could land. The whole team-numbering at 16 once Zim was added had been spending their time preparing in their own way. While the majority were placing traps in the valley where the tower was located, Drosco and Zim were working on Gaz's nano-machine treatment.

Drosco had given her the very first injection as soon as possible, and she was already showing some signs of improvement. Zim took her out of the CS Field and placed her on a bed, being tender wit hthe human as though he feared damaging her further. Drosco, despite Zim's criticism was quickly becoming the little Irken's favourite among the group for his expertise. He stayed by Gaz's side while Zim monitored the preparation of the next batch.

Drosco frowned as he finished scanning Gaz with a hand held device. "Zim...this girl has a number of Irken implants within her."

"Mhm, yes, Zim needed to improve the abilities of his Gaz-Slave," Zim nodded, not looking away from his screen.

"Slave...you _kidnapped_ her?" Drosco spun on him.

"You really think she would have helped Zim invade her own planet otherwise? Have you the _brainworms_ Drosco-Sheyi?" Zim demanded. "Besides, while she was smarted than most humans she was hardly the compassionate or likable kind; stepping on anybody who annoyed her and hardly interested in helping others unless she stood to gain from it. She got in Zim's way, and so Zim made her a brain slave...because that is how Zim rolls...plus she saw everybody else as inferior or stupid. I believe humans call that...kar...karmie...karlo...Carlos? "

Xxx

"Huh?" A young boy looked up from his desk. "Think we're finally in this story Kurt?"

"Are you kidding me?" A red haired boy grumbled, signing forms. "The author cut us out."

"What?"

"Let me repeat that for your tiny brain: _We're not in the story!_ It became obvious when I could actually talk again!"

"Oh yeah? Let's see what the author thinks of me showing up on his front doorstep to give him a taste of the Carlos!" Carlos stormed out.

Kurt sighed. "He's gonna die."

Xxx

"Uh...karma! Yes, karma is the word."

"You also think of everybody as inferior, Zim," Drosco put his hands on his hips.

"Well duh, that's how all Irkens are raised!" Zim said. "Why do you think we were invading? We thought they were all inferior!"

"You think other _Irkens_ are inferior, Zim." Drosco glared at the shorter Irken.

"No, of course not!...I don't think they're inferior, I just think they need a lot of help," Zim said.

"Zim, I'm telling Rik about this you know," Drosco said sternly. "I'm not going to let you use this girl as a slave regardless of her past. It is _wrong._"

"Ah ha! No you can't tell Rikalo, because I know your ways: Client confidentiality is the 9th tenet of the Sheyi Code!" Zim pointed at him. "And since you took me as a client you cannot say anything here." He cackled. "In your face Drosco-Sheyi!"

"I may not be able to tell him...but I can force you to," Drosco said as he slipped his gloves off.

"No you can't," Zim said confidently.

"Yes I can."

"Can't!"

"I can and I will. The 9th tenet may say I cannot tell your secret to Rik. But the 10th Tenet says I may persuade you to reveal the truth yourself." Drosco said as he stormed over to Zim. "Well Mr Zerinim, it is time for your spinal readjustment therapy."

"B-but Zim needs no spinal readjustment! Get your hands off me! Client abuse! Client abu-AH!" Zim screamed.

"Just relax Zimmy, you'll feel a little pain followed by a big heap of agony!" Drosco shouted as he 'readjusted' Zim's spine with his bare hands.

Xxx

Rik whistled as he and BlackJack entered the room marked 'Experimental Storage'. It was the size of a warehouse, stacked with hundreds of crates ranging from ones the size of a shoe box to one as big as a house. "Wow, Zimmy sure was busy down here."

A crate shifted a bit near them, and BlackJack had her gun levelled towards it in the blink of an eye. "Something just moved."

"Alright keep your pants on," Rik walked over to the crate. "Let's see..."

Something grey suddenly shot out and tried to latch onto his head. Rik grabbed it in mid leap and held it away from him. "...the hell?"

A tiny green eyed SIR unit was sucking its thumb as it stared at him. "...are you the candyman?"

"..." Rik promptly slammed the SIR into the crate next to him, making it leg go of his arm. "What the heck does Zim make down here?"

"I'mma turtle!" The SIR sang as it lied on its back, waving it's legs and arms in the air. "I'm a turtle I'm a turtle I'm a turtlley turtle!"

"Hey Rik, if you're done playing, I think I found something back here!" Loe, who had gone in earlier came out holding...a moose, a toy moose with a smile on its face.

"A moose? How's a moose gonna help?"

"It was in a case that said 'doomsday weapon'."

"What's it gonna do, cuddle us to death?" BlackJack asked rhetorically.

"Well go ask Zim what it is," Rik gestured to the door. "In the meantime we're gonna look for something down here we can actually use to fight with."

"Ooh, you wants to see the puppies?" The SIR asked.

"...the hell is a puppy?" Rik asked as Loe stepped out.

"Them's all big and scary and loud'n they made me cry," The last four words were said with a gloomy tone instead of a cheerful one.

"...could you show us these...er..._puppies?_" Rik asked cautiously.

"Okie-dokie!" The SIR then began to skip towards the back of the storage room where he stopped before a large crate that was so large it could have housed enough weapons and ammo to supply a battalion, or three squadrons of fighters (36 fighters total), maybe even a Front Line Battle Mech-if it was laid out on its back.

"Open sesame!" the SIR unit declared dramatically...and then started kicking at the door, grunting with effort. "I wants me puppies! Gimmee gimmee puppies!"

Rik and BlackJack stared at the rather amusing if not disturbing scene. Rik walked over and held out a hand to grab the handle of a small door built onto the front of the building sized crate. Then the SIR leaped up and swatted his hand away. "_Let me do iiiittt!_"

Rik withdrew his hand quickly. "Alright, alright, geez."

The SIR went back to kicking the door. "Open! Open! Open! Open! Open! Pwease opeeeen!"

After a minute, when he was sure that the SIR was not looking Rik reached out to open the door again. But then the SIR's head turned around 180 degrees and glared at him. "I said let meeee!"

Impatient but holding in his annoyance with the obviously defective robot, Rik pulled his hand back. "Hurry it up then yah walking trash can!"

"Okie-dokie!" The SIR got down on its knees and let out a low 'oommm...', eyes shut. It held out one hand, aiming it at the door. "Oommm..."

"Rik, just open the damn thing already! Seriously!" BlackJack groaned.

"Fine, to hell with it, I don't care if openin' the damn thing kills me anyhow," Rik said, reaching for the door.

"_NOLETME!_"

_Crunch!_

"YOW! SON OF A-"

DOW!

The SIR's head flew off, and rolled away. Oddly the body did not collapse, but instead went chasing after its decapitated head. Rik could hear the SIR calling to its head. "O-ok, to the left. No, no, my left. Not yours, mine. Other way. Watch the monkey. WATCH THE MONKEY!"

CRASH!

"This is not worth a fortune, or ten fortunes," Rik growled, opening the door and setting foot inside the large crate, which had glowing tubes built into the walls and floors that seemed to operate on chemiluminescence, letting out a soft blue glow. There were rows of large tanks filled with a green liquid...and within it were large forms curled in on themselves.

Rik walked over to one of the tanks, peering in at what he assumed was the occupant's head. He heard BlackJack behind him.

"Rik, what are these things?" She was examining the same tank. "G..E..S..S..."

"What?" Rik moved around to the other side of the tank where she stood and examined the letters she had been reading.

"G.E.S.S." He muttered, looking at the letters labelled on the glass. He looked for any indication of what GESS stood for...and found it in the form of an old notebook on the floor. Zim's writing was messy, but Rik managed to find the basic essential information needed.

These were made by a series of animals from the planet Earth being combined into one large monster. Apparently there were multiple models of GESS, and according to a list of what was labelled as 'Roman Numerals', these were a 'Model 2(II)' generation of GESS. They were not the current model, which supposedly had improvements the 2nd generation lacked.

And best of all he found the title and precise description of the GESS.

Genetically Engineered Super Soldier.

"BlackJack...I think we couldn't have found a better genetic expert in the whole damn galaxy," Rik grinned. "Zim went and made himself an army of mutants, that little mad scientist did!"

"Rik? Did you find anything?" Janie had caught up to them and was peering in. "Holy crap..."

"Well Janie remember how I always wanted a pet?" Rik asked. "I think this might suffice."

Xxx

_**Time to divert to that second plotline we have going...**_

Xxx

Paneece knew she was not at home, or on the same planet anymore. She checked her PAK clock and found that she had been unconscious long enough that if need be she could have been moved dozens of light years by anybody with a working FTL engine. If it was one of the highly developed Vortian made models she could be a third of the way across the known galaxy by now. She was bound by some material that made so much as breathing a trying task.

The door to her prison opened, and he slithered in, his serpentine body dragging behind him and a tray held in his arms. "I can tell that you are very uncomfortable stuck like that. Would you like me to let you down?"

Paneece tried to speak, and ended up hacking. Sensing her intent, he slithered forward quickly, setting the tray down and somehow slicing through the material that Paneece herself had not managed to so much as stretch with her hours of struggling. She collapsed to her knees, supported by the being.

"There..." He gently set her on her side on a soft surface. "The injection I gave you is stronger than I had hoped. I apologize, I had only meant to stop you from attacking me when I came in, I had feared you would break out of the webbing."

Well that answered a few questions in her head.

"Now Panny-"

She sputtered something. "P-pan...eece..."

"Hm?"

"Don't...call me...Panny." She hissed, glaring up at him as best she could.

He nodded. "Alright then Paneece, I know you have a lot of questions so let me just answer them right now."

Good, now she could find out where she was-

"You are in my home in Settlement A1 of the Holy Irken Empire," He answered.

Holy Irken Empire...? There was the Old Empire, the Crimson Empire, the Shadow Empire, the Blue Empire...but _Holy_ Empire? Was this a religious faction of some sort?

"Not far off the mark," He nodded. "Unlike most of the factions, we do practice religion. We worship the Cornerstone of Light, our god and saviour."

She really didn't want to listen to him ramble about some god right now-

"I understand your impatience," He nodded.

How does he keep _doing_ that?

"Oh quite simple dearest," He tapped her head. "I read your mind."

"Psychic!" Paneece whispered, eyes narrowed.

"Ah...you look a lot like your sister when your eyes do that," He said, tracing one finger along the ridge above her eye socket where she would have had an eyebrow were she human. "They slant...and you look like you are focused on something in front of you. That look always made Skullene look so att-"

Paneece rose up with a snarl, taking her captor by surprise-and by the neck and slamming him into the ground. How dare he talk about _her?_ Rearing back one fist, she prepared to smash his monocles so she could use the pieces to slice his throat-

But...she was so dizzy...

He wrapped his arms around her and straightened up, stroking her antennae down. "I spoke out of turn that time, so we won't have any punishments with that."

Punishment? Oh god was this guy some weird 'Dominant/Submissive' nut who was supposed to 'train' her?

"Oh heavens no!" He tilted her head up. "Trust me Paneece I have no intention of harming you at all, in fact by punishment I only meant taking away your desert or not letting you out of your room."

This was confusing...was she a prisoner or not?

"In a way you are, sadly," He nodded. "I am sorry for taking you, but I am afraid that we require your assistance. This will be a lot quicker if you don't fight with me over it."

What do you want?

"Paneece...let me start from the beginning." He sighed. "But first let me introduce myself," He lied her down on the soft comfy bed that had been positioned under her cocoon, bringing the covers up to her neck and setting the tray of food on the night stand.

"My name is Caterpillar," He said, every word soothing her against her will-most likely his psychic powers. "And I need your help to save my empire Paneece. I would have asked Skullene...but she was rather vocal in her refusal."

"W-why...kidnap..." She managed to whisper.

"Because...at times I must make the hard decision," The Caterpillar picked up a bowl of soup. "Paneece I promise that you will not be harmed, and if you do not resist then you will be allowed to return home."

"When..."

"...after we have as many as required."

As many...what?

"Smeets."

Smeets...why did they need her to make smeets? She wasn't a geneticist, she didn't even know the schematics to the Smeeteries of the Old Empire. How could she...

"We don't need a smeetery to make a smeet, Paneece." The Caterpillar shook his head. "We need your body, the body which might be the only Irken body in the galaxy capable of producing a normal, healthy smeet through natural breeding."

He leaned in.

"We need you to bear my children, and _lots_ of them." He said. "Which is why I won't give a specific timeline, but even with our technology you might be stuck here for several years, a decade at the most." He smiled. "But by then...you might not even want to leave. You'll find that the Holy Irken Empire is like Eden compared to the dangerous Irken Nations with their Tallests fighting one another."

He kissed her forehead, ignoring her terror filled eyes and held a spoonful of soup to her mouth. "But I won't do anything to you yet, for now...you need to eat. Veggie soup?"

Xxx

The Irken ships came down fast, only a few for the first wave. They carried infantry so far, but no vehicles, air craft or mechanized units yet. In total there were ninety-six soldiers scattered over four standard troop transports carrying twenty each and a mobile command ship carrying the final sixteen, which were officers operating sensor drones and communicating with the Armada above, marking areas for landing zones as the five ships went.

At first the weather was sunny and clear, very humid actually. But after they went below a mile above the surface the pilots noticed some changes.

Down in the base command center, Zim sat on a floating chair with an evil grin slowly forming on his face. "Let the universe remember the wrath of...ZIM!" He let out a battle cry...and tapped a red button.

"_Activating Weather Control Matrix."_

The effect started above the tower, but spread out across the planet within minutes. Dark clouds were gathering, growing larger and larger. Then rain began to pour down on all five ships as they set down by the edge of the valley where the tower and base were located.

Xxx

"H2O my Tallest," The Captain onboard the Command Ship, which remained in the air said to a holographic image of Tallest Red. "Advising all units to wear appropriate protective gear and paste."

"Just get on with it Captain," Red gestured with one hand impatiently.

"All units deploy, set up a beach head at the top of the cliff, send first squad down to breach the entrance," The Captain instructed his men. "Don't take any prisoners."

Eighty Irkens poured out of the other four transports, stopping at the edge of the cliff overlooking the base of the tower. They saw the abandoned apparatuses and cables left behind by Rik's team, and six of the ten chosen to go down clipped themselves in to the cables.

They did not know they were being watched from the hills by Elay, who had moved both ships over to a hidden location. She lowered her rifle, which had a scope attached to it and spoke into her radio. "Elay here, six coming down, the rest are in position. Trigger the bombs by the Entry Point. Sets 1 and 2 on my signal."

Inside the base, Zim nodded to Loe, held twenty different detonation devices, each with eight triggers on them. He held the one marked 'Entry Point' with some paint.

"Almost..." Loe tensed. "Now!"

He flicked the first two switches, detonating two bombs with each motion.

The six soldiers sliding down the cables passed right over the explosives that Elay herself had positioned there. The soldiers, assuming that the rescue team was unaware of their arrival never thought of a trap. But five of them were torn to pieces along with their cables by the detonations. The sixth lost most of his left side and his cable, and plummeted to his death with a wail of despair.

"Damn!" The 1st platoon leader looked to the last 4 members of first squad. "Hold position, we're sending drone ahead of you to scout for any more explosives on the valley wall. All units we have traps set in the valley, be careful."

"Well that spooked them," Elay nodded, satisfied. "Going to radio silence in case they grow half a brain and decide to track me, good luck fellas." She flicked her radio off and sat back in the pilot's seat of the Ranger, her rifle leaning on the controls in front of her so she was able to see through the anterior canopy and down into the valley.

Xxx

"Well that worked," Rik nodded, crouched at the bottom of the valley with BlackJack, Credaran, Gaulia, Ginia, Phela, and Vexus. "Ok then Shade, ready to unleash hell?"

Inside with Zim and Loe, Kay nodded, her back to both Irkens and her hood up as always. "Ready, I've hacked into their command ship."

"Bring it down," Rik glanced at Vexus, who held up a shoulder mounted energy beam. "We'll be ready."

Kay hacked into the controls of the Command Ship, which suddenly ignored the commands of its crew and moved down into the valley. Onboard, the Captain swore as he barked orders to his crew right up until the moment when Vexus fired his weapon and blew a hole in the port side of the ship, which began to spin out of control. It crashed further down the canyon.

"Rik, a dozen life signs, we didn't get all of them," Kay muttered.

"I see them now," Rik nodded. "And it looks like they're takin' a risk, I see the rest of that squad we hit coming down the cliff wall. Divide fire, focus on the cliff wall! Those boys down in the crash site are wounded, slow and lackin' in training and weapons."

The defenders positioned outside the base entrance were all armed with rifles and an array of other weapons to prepare for the next waves. The four members of the first squadron all but bounded down the cliff wall, using thrusters built into their suits to slow their descents as they leaped off. Two were picked off by laser fire, but the other two deploy portable shield barriers and took cover before returning fire.

At first they managed to fight off the Crimson Soldiers without any trouble, but a full ten soldiers came down the cliff wall and put more pressure on them.

"Uh...we might want to reconsider our position here!" Rik said. "Janie open the door!"

Janie, positioned inside with Lerak and Kronos nodded and hit the door controls. The defenders fell back inside, and slammed the door shut with twenty Crimson soldiers bearing down on them.

"We'll fortify further back and keep them away from the command center and medical bay," BlackJack said, ejecting the energy cell from her rifle for a fresh one.

"Janie, did you set explosives here?" Rik asked, receiving a nod in response. "Good, everybody back down the hall. Janie, blow them when I give the signal." After fifty feet and going down a flight of stairs he nodded to hr, and she detonated the charges, collapsing the hallway.

Xxx

"Sir, they collapsed the primary entrance," The new unit commander-the Captain having broken his neck said to Tallest Red as more ships came down. "As far as I can tell aside from the Tower and generators the base itself is too far down to blast from orbit before they can escape."

"Would Zim even have an escape plan?" Red drawled.

"Well he has professional body guards it seems," The Irken replied. "They took out over half of first platoon before we forced them inside."

"In that case don't bother following them in," Red replied. "We're sending a special unit down, compliments of Tallest Shadow. They'll take over for-" The transmission ended abruptly.

"My Tallest? My Tallest..." He trailed off as he heard a low growl, and turned as several hatches opened in the valley wall...

And over thirty monsters leaped out all at once. They were all bulky and had thick grey skin, with a set of horns on their heads and what looked like paws with sharpened claws that were extended to full length. And finally, right under the horns were a pair of bat like wings far too small to carry the GESS in flight. Each of them was a vicious killer, some of them more disfigured than the rest...

But equally hungry, and apparently they found Irken flesh to be quite the delicacy.

Xxx

End of chapter

Don't worry, Zim and Drosco aren't done with their little disagreement. I haven't forgotten that tidbit entirely.

_**Sheyi Code**_

_**All brothers and sisters of the Sheyi are to be treated with respect by both their fellow Sheyi and clients. If a Sheyi is assaulted they are given leave to defend themselves by any means necessary and available to them.**_

_**A Sheyi is to offer peace of mind and healing of the heart to any who request such in a formal manner. They may not take advantage of an emotionally fragile being for personal gain.**_

_**A Sheyi must not become attached to a client, but they must show caring and sympathy. So long as a Sheyi completes their task of assisting their client in whatever method is requested without becoming too attached, they may continue to see that client.**_

_**A Sheyi may choose whether or not to accept an assignment, but must give specific reasons. If they feel unfit to assist their client for whatever reason they shall not be punished in any way.**_

_**A Sheyi may choose to accept or refuse a request from a client for whatever reason they wish, though this may result in loss of a customer and payment.**_

_**All Sheyi are equal, those of a higher rank are only meant to guide those of a lower rank, not dominate and control them.**_

_**A Sheyi may not take a life unless in self defence.**_

_**A Sheyi is permitted to leave the order at any time, and even return granted that they retake their rite of acceptance.**_

_**A Sheyi may not disclose personal information of their client during a session, and cannot allow their personal emotions to bring them to reveal any secrets.**_

_**A Sheyi however may persuade their client to disclose this information through any means necessary.**_

_**A Sheyi may not belittle, mock or insult their client under any circumstance.**_

_**A Sheyi must be trained to defend themselves and their fellow brothers and sisters should the need ever arise. Training includes firearms, blades, hand to hand combat, medical, maintenance of technology, etc.**_


	12. New Path Arc, Ace up the sleeve

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 for his assistance.

Xxx

"_Ahhhh!" Caterpillar shut his eyes and tried to block out the screams of his best friend as he lay across the table before him, chained to each corner as four of Caterpillar's best psychics tried to break through his mental barriers. Caterpillar had tried himself many times, but after casually doing it to help Rik build up a resistance to psychic infiltration over the years he found it impossible to breach the fortress that Rik's mind had become._

"_You mother-gah! Miyuki's biggest mistake!" Rik would snarl out half insults all the time at the Caterpillar as he struggled to break free. "I should have let Red and Purple kill you! KILLYOU-KILLYOU-KILLYOU! JUST LIKE I WILL WHEN I GET OFF THIS THING!"_

"_Rik, please..." The Caterpillar pleaded. "I don't want to do this to you," He gently stroked Rik's head. "But I need you by my side for this, or it won't work. I need the Champion of the Holy Irken Empire beside me, supporting my decisions, not countering them."_

_Suddenly pain spiked through his skull and he fell backwards with a scream. Rik had repulsed him with a mental counterattack, something that even an ungifted Irken like Rik could master, or any non-psychic could master given enough training. After all, the mind is already a sanctum; it just took practice to control that sanctum at all times._

_And Rik was the Champion for a reason; he fought and won on all fields of battle, even in the mind against the Emperor himself._

"_This ain't about how we breed anymore you traitor!" Rik hissed, eyes filled with a fury I had never seen him turn towards me before. "This is about the soul of our whole species! And I ain't lettin' you drag Irkens down this path you glorified Earth Worm!"_

_Then it was back to endless screaming. Whenever I tried to reason with Rik from that point on I felt as though my head would explode. He was filled with such hatred for me, such hurt at what he felt was my betrayal that he was all but hard wired against my infiltrating his mind. But other psychics had some luck, managing to slip a whisper into his mind at its weakest. But this was slowly, and he thus far had entirely fought off any attempts to change him completely._

_I tried to play off of his own desires, trying to let his primal instincts take over. A human woman had volunteered to be his mate, all he had to do was get off of the table and take her, she would not fight him in any way..._

_But why didn't he? He lay there, free of his chains, just staring at the ceiling. He was stripped naked, as was the human. Though she admired his muscles and traced her fingers over his scars, Rik remained...unenthusiastic. In fact when she brought her hand near his shaft he grabbed her wrist and stood up, forcing her to look him in the eyes. I felt it then...something was happening._

_The girl suddenly started to cry, falling to her knees and begging Rik for forgiveness-which he gave. When I went in to collect the girl-one whom had often given birth to many an Irken smeet she was repulsed by me...she struck out at me. Suddenly she was just like Rik...I was unable to enter her mind, and other psychics had little more luck. Now we had a human and an Irken to turn back to the way of the Empire._

_I found it...a little strand between them...formed when Rik had somehow gone beyond the sanctum of his own mind, spreading his shield to her and somehow showing her what he saw and felt. It was impossible though...how could Rik be capable of such telepathic power? He was ungifted, a warrior who used guns and blades, not his mind or tongue._

_But...he always told me of a visitor he had...maybe that has something to do with it? He spoke of the Visitor in the Dark, the Irken with black eyes who would always creep in the corner of his sight, whisper to him behind his back..._

_I never feel anything in his cell...but Rik seems absolutely convinced that he is stalked by a spectre of some sort. When I asked him of how he had established his link with the human girl-Sasha he smiled and told me that the Visitor might hate him, but it hates me more, it just can't get to me yet._

_Of course these are the ravings of a man who is soon to be broken. His mental barriers shall fall soon enough, and then I will have my friend by my side once more._

_Later Rik escaped his cell somehow...and on the security footage I saw the Visitor in the Dark...and until Rikalo use my psychic amplifier technology with his newly gained powers to wipe out humanity the Visitor continued to haunt me and later my precious wife._

Xxx

_**Delusional, foolish, and horny all rolled into one gets you what? The answer is me making a very sick reference using the shape of Caterpillar's body and his name to Galaxy of Terror.**_

_**Now you see what he has done. This is the first part of his crime against the galaxy, the torture of Rikalo, the one from his universe, then the Champion of the Holy Irken Empire. Let me explain it this way...if something happens in one universe, something so colossal that it affect the balance of the universe itself then it will be felt in other worlds. The destruction of humanity at Rik's hands affected this universe and the Irken race in both worlds.**_

_**For the Caterpillar it doomed his race to a slow death, but for this world it fuelled the fires of hatred in every Irken's heart and mind. Now you probably think this was all by chance...yes and no. The destruction of humanity and dooming of Irken kind in one universe did change this one...for the better and worse. Humanity grows strong and independent, shying away from the fate of allowing themselves to be ignorant and weak. And Irkens now have their own choice of how to live...multiple choices actually.**_

_**The agents of fate in this game were Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Red, neither of them knew it at the time and I doubt they ever will...given one is dead now. Miyuki did what Caterpillar could not: restore fertility to an Irken woman. She gave birth to five children and put in motion Irken kind's escape from the fate in store for the Caterpillar's people. And Red...he drove the hatred of the empire, forging it into a spear tip that works just as well as any manipulations by the Caterpillar.**_

_**Chaos in on universe means chaos in almost all of them. That is how it has always worked and that is how it always shall work.**_

_**But want to know what else will always be the same? You have to read the pages below, that's what, too late to change your mind now!**_

Xxx

"Come on, come on already Drosco-Sheyi!" Zim demanded as he stormed into the medical bay. "The battle goes poorly! We have been forced back underground and all of my GESS will be picked off once the Armada sends air support down!"

"I am doing the best I can, Zim." Drosco said calmly, pulling back another syringe from Gaz's neck. "It would be easier if the nanites were not interacting with all of the implants you had added. Seriously, you had to enhanced every one of her senses instead of just giving her a Sensor Apparatus and saving yourself time?"

"Silence! Zim knows how to create minions!" Zim snapped.

"And how to create a migraine," Drosco mumbled under his breath. "Anyways, I've given her the fourth injection and her cell mutation has halted before anything seriously bad could happen. She'll need some long term treatment, but she's stable now."

"Excellent!" Zim grinned. "More proof that the Irken race can accomplish what no other-"

"Vortians helped make the treatment," Drosco informed him with a small, empty smile.

"DOH!"

Lerak rushed into the room moments later. "Are you guys done yet? We have to get the hell out of here before they dig their way into the base!"

"Dig? Nonsense!" Zim scoffed. "Zim left a surprise for anybody who dares to dig on his lawn!"

"Dig on your what-never mind," Lerak shook his head. "I'm heading over to the emergency exit to make sure nobody tries blocking us off. Get your friend in a transfer unit and Elay will bring the Ranger around for a pick up."

"Yes, yes now begone!" Zim ordered-Lerak all too glad to get the hell out of the room. "GIR! Get a transfer unit from the storage room and bring it to the medical bay! The Gaz-Slave shall be moved!"

"GIR?" Drosco wondered aloud before a hole was broken in the floor, making the Sheyi jump as a small red eyed SIR unit-the same one Rik had mentioned decapitating earlier leaped out, dragging a long device that was essentially a gurney on an anti-grav drive. He straightened it out and snapped a salute to Zim.

"Objective achieved m'lord, huh!"

"Good!" Zim wrung his hands. "Excellent..."

"You know if you don't tell Rik, I will rearrange your spine again," Drosco reminded him, making the shorter Irken shudder at the memory of being reshaped.

"Fine! Fine! I'll tell him after we are clear of any danger!" He waved one hand. "Just get off Zim's back and help him move the Gaz-Sla-" He winced as Drosco held up one hand threateningly. "Gaz-_Human_ to the emergency exit."

When they moved Gaz out of the medical bay and into the access corridor opposite of the entrance to the command center they were met by Gaulia, Genia and Phela.

"We will escort you," Gaulia said. "The Imperial forces have inserted a 'special forces' unit to finish us off. We must hurry."

"Onward!" Zim declared, standing on the edge of the Transfer Unit by Gaz's feet while GIR pushed.

Xxx

Vexus looked to Kay, who was loading a pistol with an energy cell. "Ka-Shade I want you to head for the emergency exit and wait for us."

"I am not a fragile piece of glass Vexus," Kay replied. "I've fought before, in fact I fought for decades before we met. I can handle a fight."

Vexus knew it was impossible to change her mind-as she often competed with him for the position of dominant in the relationship. He sighed, setting his rifle down. "Alright, but you stay by me at all times, got it?"

"Got-" She and the others paused as they heard muffled noise...from the walls.

"Loe?" Rik glanced at Loe, who was flexing his robotic hand to test the joints.

"I'm hooked up to the sensors...something is trying to dig inside," He said. "Right there!" They all aimed at the area Loe indicated as the metal there began to bubble and melt...

Suddenly, with a splash of molten metal a creature fell right into the corridor! It was covered in the material and howling, writhing in pain. Soon the unrecognizable beast went still, and a pair of what looked like smaller GESS crawled out after it. One opened its mouth and spat a short burst of flames, and licked its lips.

"GESS model 4," Loe sighed in relief, looking at Zim's notebook. "Zim kept making these to use as sentries in case somebody had the idea to dig into the base."

"And they shoot fire too! Awesome!" BlackJack chuckled, patting one of the GESS on the head, making it purr. "I should get myself one of these."

"You can ask Zim to grow you one later, we've got more incoming that aren't burning alive!" Rik pointed to where four holes were punched into the walls and ceiling. More of the creatures crawled out...

"Dear Irk," Kay whispered.

They were Irkens...or what should have been Irkens. They were moving on all four, their features distorted and lengthened. Their hands and feet were oversized for their skinny appendages and their antennae reached back to their waist. They had four eyes, four yellow eyes with narrow pupils as they growled, foaming at the mouth. Their skin had pieces of machinery sticking out of them, and their jaws looked big enough to swallow a small Irken whole.

"Fire!" Rik ordered, raising his rifle in time when one of the creatures lunged for him. He fired twice and slid forward, leaning back so his rifle followed the creature as it flew over him. It whined and crashed on the floor, dead as Rik climbed to his feet. The other three were joined by more. The two GESS IVs howled and leaped into the fray, clawing and burning what they could.

"If we lose those GESS we'll be at one hell of a disadvantage," Zafre said, observing the firefight.

"Then feel free to do something about it," Rik replied.

"Don't mind if I do!" Zafre grinned and leaped over the nearest of the Mutant Irkens and landed by the GESS, swiping his claws across the throat of the nearest Mutant and then snapping the neck of a second that got too close. He was tearing into the Mutant Irkens, outmanoeuvring them entirely and dealing deadly blows while the others shot at any too far for him to attack. The GESS lent a hand by burning, biting and hacking at the Mutants, making them back away and try to attack from another direction.

Soon the number of creatures began to drop, and soon the last five stopped at the same time and turned. They fled from the group, heading deeper into the base.

"They're going for Zim and the others!" Janie said, hastily trying to reload her spent rifle.

"Loe, Kronos, Janie and Zafre go after them!" Rik pointed one thumb over his shoulder. "Everybody else to the command center, the detonators are still there. We'll blow the whole valley and the tower to slow down the next wave."

Xxx

"Here we are," Gaulia said, tapping the access panel and opening the elevator that led up to the emergency exit bunker. "All clear." They moved Gaz inside the elevator and made to close it...

"It's lost power," Ginia said, pounding one fist on the panel once.

"There is an emergency generator around here somewhere," Zim informed them.

"I'll get it," Lerak volunteered.

"I'll go with you," Phela added as she followed him.

"Down the hall, 5th door on the left, look under the floor panels!" Zim called after them.

Turning through the 5th door they passed on the left side of the hall, they looked at the panels of what looked like a regular lab floor and bent down. They found that some of them could be picked up, and went about looking for the generator.

"Got it!" Lerak said as he found a round, pink device. "Irken Portable Power Source, these things can last a century." He activated it.

"It works, get back here!" Drosco shouted.

They stepped out of the room...and gasped as they each felt a sharp pain in their neck, collapsing.

"Lerak?" Drosco swallowed, his antennae angling up a bit.

"Cover me," Ginia cautiously moved towards the two fallen Irkens, scanning the dark corridor with her flashlight before checking them. "They're alive, but unconscious!"

"For now..." Suddenly Ginia was kicked in the head and knocked into the wall on her left as a tall, dark clad Irken with red eyes leaped down. He twirled a pair of swords he held, a smirk on his face as Ginia collapsed.

"Ginia!" Gaulia fired three times at the Irken-Belthiad, who ducked around the nearest corner before she could lock on to him. "Zim, Drosco get them all into the elevator and get out of-"

A whistling sound made her duck before a knife flew over her head. Belthiad launged back across the corridor and into the lab where Lerka and Phela had found the generator. Gaulia went for the controls, but the elevator died before she even touched them.

"Damn...this isn't good, he's not an average soldier," Gaulia whispered.

Thud!

A wheezing sound drew her attention to Gaz...

_Who was awake._

She had fallen off of the gurney and was on her knees, gasping for badly needed air, her long hair falling over her face as the young woman held her throat.

"Gaz-Human! You must get back on the gurney and remain there!" Zim shouted. "Gaz-Human I am your master, obey!"

"Y-yes...master Zim," Gaz managed to say in a monotone as she stopped her fit and slowly got up and climbed back onto the gurney.

"Wait...this gives Zim an idea," Zim snapped his fingers. "...Third door on the right is the armoury, I didn't think we would need it...but now I think we might as well use it. Gaulia, go and distract the weird acrobat-y Irken. Drosco-Sheyi, help Zim move Gaz into the armoury!" There was a malicious glint in his eye. "Let this fool see the true genius of Zim and the power of his Gaz-Slave!"

Gaulia looked at Drosco, who sighed. "Well now it's not a secret so I guess the code of Sheyi can't bind me. Zim turned the girl into this against her will."

"...We are definitely going to talk about this later, little one," Gaulia glared at Zim before she went after Belthiad.

Xxx

_**Now a look at Paneece's situation...**_

Xxx

They were drugging her with the food; that was obvious to Paneece after her second meal. She had been feeling stronger; at least enough to sit up when the Caterpillar had come in with more food and offered to take her outside if she ate. She did, and before she knew it she needed the Caterpillar to carry her-all the while most likely making her _think_ that being in his arms felt comfortable and safe. With a psychic captor she couldn't trust her own thoughts.

It turned out that she had been held inside of a _castle._ It was in the middle of a large field surrounded by several small villages full of Irkens...but with barely any children. However when the Caterpillar brought her out-even letting her walk around on her own with a supporting arm she found many of the Irkens staring at her, some bowing their heads. As it turned out, the Caterpillar had made his plan quite public without fear of anybody disagreeing.

It only got worse when she figured out that she was underground, in a large terraformed cavern with an artificial light to make replace the sun, and a screen built across the interior that mimicked the day and night sky. If she managed to get out of the castle or through the dozens of villages spread out through the underground 'settlement' then she would have to find a way back up to the surface and off of whichever planet this was.

"But you wouldn't even get out of the castle," The Caterpillar had said, surprised. "Why would you try at all? Is your room not comfortable? Is this settlement not paradise?"

After she had examined her room more she found it fit for a Queen, with all of her favourite colours, books, and even toys from when she was younger...sometimes she just wanted to play with one of them and forget where she was and why she was there. And the settlement, all several hundred thousand miles of it made her want to cry when she thought of how most other planets were. Here the Holy Irken Empire could terraform with a flick of the wrist and Envon barely managed to make moons and planets inhabitable despite his best sincere efforts.

But with her third meal approaching, Paneece had managed to recall the training her brother had given her over the decades to combat psychic infiltration. The Caterpillar would think of this as normal for her, and possibly think little of it assuming he did not manage to gleam her intention. She had a plan to get out though. So far a lot of her food had the same thing, including a glass of what was supposed to be something similar to water but unable to burn an Irken and a bowl of soup.

That was when she had a plan.

The Caterpillar slithered into the room, carrying his tray. "Dinner time!" He sounded so happy, it almost reminded her of her own mother...

He didn't say anything, he just went about setting up her dinner. As usual in addition to the food was some soup-which he had kept on when she showed that she liked it and a glass of 'Irken-Water'. Perfect...

She sniffed the food and couldn't help but smile, her mouth watering at the scent. She took the soup and began to eagerly down it by the spoonful.

"My, somebody is hungry," The Caterpillar nodded his approval.

She let one thought slip out intentionally, putting all of her focus into it.

Needs more salt...

"Hm?" His antennae tilted forward. "Ah, allow me to fetch some." True to his word he came back moments later with a salt shaker and handed it to her.

"Thanks," She gave him a smile-not too sweet, just momentary and then began to pour salt in.

With how she shovelled through the food, the Caterpillar assumed she would be back to being barely capable of walking much less escaping. "I'll come back later." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Then we can talk a bit; maybe take you out to the village for a bit."

More like use more of his psychic power to seduce her. No thanks!

"Why not?" He tilted his head.

Damn, he caught part of her thought; she had to be careful or he would hear more.

"I...don't feel like heading out tonight," She brought her knees to her chest. "Maybe tomorrow night."

"Alright then," He seemed to accept this and kissed her forehead again. She felt him testing her defences, and pulled back. "But if you want to head out at all I'd like you to lower those mental barriers. I don't meant to sound like a control freak but I don't like the idea of you plotting, which I know you are."

"Most kidnappers aren't mind readers," Paneece shrugged. "You don't need to know my thoughts anymore than they do."

The Caterpillar sighed and took her hand. "Paneece, I want you to feel happy here," And he had memories of how he would have once made people 'happy'...he would not use those methods again, not on her. "And I am sorry that I took you, but I have little choice."

"And I have fewer choices," She whispered. "We'll talk, that's all?"

"Yes," He nodded, and left without another word.

As soon as the door shut she counted to thirty as she heard the sounds of his slithering get further and further off...

Then she set her soup down and grabbed the glass. She tore the top off of the shaker and dumped all of the salt in. She stirred it using her spoon and then downed it all, gagging a bit on the powerful taste and ended up bending over the edge of her bed and grabbed a small bin used to incinerate garbage. She vomited into it, spilling out all of the food she had eaten along with the drugs within it.

The Caterpillar really had trusted her enough to eat everything, it had worked! He left her alone just long enough to enact her plan.

Activating the bin, the remains of the food vanished into thin air like they never existed. Lying back on the bed and coughing a bit, Paneece shut her eyes and reached for the bin. She dumped most of the food in-despite feeling guilty for the waste and incinerated it next. Then she snuggled into the covers and waited for her senses to come back to her...

Perhaps an hour later it happened when she tried to test whether her plan had worked or not. She slowly sat on the edge of the bed and then got to her feet. With a grin, she stretched her tired muscles and walked over to the door. She found it unlocked, and her boots left next to it inside. Slipping them on and smoothing her dress out she stepped into the hall. No guards patrolled the corridors, at least for the moment.

Xxx

The Caterpillar was in the command center built near the center of the castle. Only six other Irkens worked there, all of them monitoring spies placed in all of the individual empires. Their objective was to locate potential Irkens and any of the Breeders who could repopulate the declining population of the Caterpillar's empire.

"Well somebody in Red's ranks noticed Skoodge is gone," One operator scoffed. "And it's only because he went looking for Skoodge to give him a swirly."

"Somebody in Blue's empire is investigating Paneece's disappearance along with that of the soldier who volunteered to stay with us after he was done breeding." A second one commented. "Am I the only one seeing the pattern where Blue seems to give a damn about his people?"

"Sir...I'm finding a trend in communications between Shadow and Crimson units," A third operator looked at the Caterpillar. "It keeps on repeating in transmissions, apparently they're hunting..._Rikalo._"

The Caterpillar stiffened. "You mean..._him?_"

"I'm not sure if he is from our universe or the native Rikalo of this universe yet," The Irken shook her head. "I'll look into it some more sir."

"If it's...him, then we'll have to reactivate our combat units for the first time in centuries," The Caterpillar sighed. "Rik...what happened to you?"

Suddenly his personal communicator went off. "Caterpillar here."

"_Compia, we have a problem._" Said the Caterpillar's wife, the Monarch, or better known in this universe by the name of her alternate: Tak.

"What is it?"

"_It's Paneece, she escaped her room, I think she tricked you._"

"Plainly," The Caterpillar said before he used the security cameras to track Paneece through the castle. "I see her...don't send anybody after her, I'll get her myself."

Xxx

Hundreds of Irken soldiers were piling into the valley above the base. All of them were Crimson Elite soldiers, not accompanied by any Shadow soldiers yet. Several had found and diffused explosives set up by Rik's team.

"Alright...I'd just blow the whole valley before they find any more of the charges if I were you," Elay said, folding her rifle up. "I'm moving the Ranger, by now their ships in orbit will have a lock on my position."

"_Do it and keep on the move until after we blow the valley,_" Rik stated. "_And did you lock the controls on the other ship to give us another distraction?_"

"You bet," Elay nodded, activating the Ranger's engines. "When she blows she'll send out enough fallout to cloud their sensors long enough for us to slip off of the planet."

"_Good luck up there,_" Rik cut the connection before she could reply.

"Bastard always needs the last word." Elay sighed.

Xxx

In the base camp of the Armada troops, General Grash was monitoring the advancement of his units into the valley where they were finishing off the forty or so GESS that had been deployed from Zim's base.

"Do we have a lock on any secondary exits?" He looked to his XO.

"Yes my Taller, we located an emergency exit of sorts on the far side of the ridge to the east," The Irken nodded. "My men have secured it."

"I like your initiative Commander," Grash nodded respectfully. "Rest assured after Zim is dead and that scum Rikalo brought in we will-"

Suddenly explosions rang out in the surrounding area. The base camp had been set up in an area that had been cleared by bomb squads earlier so Grash had no fear of being blown to pieces...

However when a nearby Breach Walker, which was essentially a large spider shaped mech exploded, it sent massive pieces of metal flying. Grash dove to the ground, using reflexes honed by centuries of warfare. When he looked up however, he had a perfect view of his XO cut in half down the middle above the waist. His corpse collapsed to the ground, both halves of his brains leaking out while the massive sheet of metal-propelled a hundreds of miles per hour by the detonation was stuck right through a nearby tree.

"Sir, forward units are taking massive damage! And the reserve vehicles are being caught in a rock slide further back!" One of the surviving officers shout as he got up and staggered over to his portable console, built onto the command platform of the camp.

"We're sitting ducks in here and in that valley," Grash muttered. "Pull infantry units back from areas not damaged by detonations, have them take cover in craters and await further orders. We were told to hold our position and we will, but I won't permit losses like this."

He looked at the image of the tower right before it exploded too in real life. "This is way too much trouble for one defective."

He had already lost upwards of a hundred soldiers just trying to establish a perimeter.

Xxx

"That's all of the explosives," Kay said, standing up from her seat.

"And our signal to get the hell out of here," Rik nodded as the five team members piled out of the command center, following the path that Zim's group had taken to the elevator. They found the elevator inoperable and sealed tight.

"Damn..." Rik banged on the doors once.

"Psst!" They all turned towards the armoury door where a now awakened Ginia beckoned them over. "In here!"

They all rushed inside and were met by Zim's group-minus Gaulia and the team he had sent after the Irken Mutants.

"What's the problem with the damn elevator?" Rik demanded.

"Power's blown and the generator is being...guarded." Drosco swallowed, glancing towards the back of the armoury where Zim was doing..._something_ with Gaz behind a set of weapon racks. "An Irken, a fast one too."

"We took care of all of the mutants though," Zafre added.

"Fear not fellow Irkens!" Zim declared. "For the almighty Zim has outdone himself once more!"

"Zim if this is another speech about how great you think you are I'll-" Rik stopped as he saw a figure step out from behind the lockers... "...I say again Zim...you are a _mad scientist._"

"Indeed, now go help the Gaulia-Soldier," Zim ordered. "And get that generator on! The Gaz-Slave is about to make herself useful."

Xxx

Gaulia ducked under a swipe from Belthiad's blades and brought her rifle up, letting the next blade dig into the metal body of the weapon before twisting so that Belthiad lost a grip on one of his swords. She shoved Belthiad back and drew her own sword, tossing the damaged rifle to the side and bringing her blade over her head in a clockwise arc, angling it down as it came around her front and nearly sliced Belthiad's neck open. But he twisted and leaned back so it missed him and then jabbed at her exposed torso.

"You're pretty good," Belthiad said, licking some of his own blood off of his lips-caused by a brutal punch that knocked out one of his teeth. "I like a woman who can fight. You must be one of Tallest Blue's precious Blade Sisters."

Gaulia hesitated.

"Oh yes...I know _all _about you," Belthiad sneered, circling her. "I know where he gets you from...I know how he trains you...and I know that you're nothing but his attack dog."

"Nothing you say will make me turn against Tallest Blue," Gaulia vowed. "He is a lot better than Red or Shadow any day."

"No denying that...but is he willing to do what he has to?" Belthiad questioned.

"What do you mean?" Gaulia hesitated.

"Well for one...does he only act when he is personally hurt...or when his people are hurt?" Belthiad suddenly flicked his hand forward, sending his sword spinning towards her. She knocked it off course with a swing of her own sword, only for Belthiad to next throw two knives that buried themselves into her left shoulder and the skin above her right hip bone. She dropped her sword and tore both knives out, gasping at the pain.

"I'll find out after I send him one of his Blade Sisters in a tiny box," Belthiad mused, grabbing his dropped sword and walking over, raising it over his head-

Only for his wrist to be grabbed and then for Rik to toss him around and into a shelf, knocking it down. "That ain't a way to show a lady respect, partnah'!"

Belthiad got up, rotating his neck and getting a satisfying 'pop' a few times. "Rikalo. You're the second Primary target right after the defective."

"And let me guess, the Tallest want me alive?" Rik queried.

"Good guess!" Belthiad lunged forward, only for Rik's boot to meet his face.

"A little too basic there partnah'," Rik said as he knelt and turned on the generator with one hand.

"Better than a long complex move," Belthiad retorted before he suddenly had Rik by the leg and swung him around, slamming him into a wall hard enough to dent the metal plating.

"Touche," Rik muttered as Loe reached in and dragged Gaulia out. "Y'all take that elevator and send it back when you're all out!"

"You'll hear no objections from us about that!" Loe replied as he reached the elevator.

Xxx

"Sir, the elevator is coming up!" A soldier said to the Sergeant in charge of the squad positioned at the secondary entrance. They all stood outside of the bunker the elevator was located in.

"Everybody down, wait until you have a full view!" The Sergeant barked, and his men obeyed.

They all pressed themselves down flat, waiting...

And something stepped out of the bunker. It was clad in dark red Irken armour over a black body suit, and had a slender, slightly curvy build. A round, smooth helmet with a shallow V shaped black visor stared at the dozen or so soldiers who moved out from cover. They all noticed the armaments on the being...

A shoulder mounted energy cannon, a collection of blades on a combat harness and belts along with grenades...

And a large anti-infantry automatic energy rifle that it easily held with both hands. It usually required a bipod to use, and at least two people to reload it, but here this single armoured being was with it alone...

And it opened fire the moment that it spotted the Irkens. The muzzle flash was reflected in the glass and metal of its helmet as it mowed down four of the Irkens easily.

"FIRE! FIRE!"

The rest of the squad poured lasers into the target, only for a shield to pop up around it and deflect the attacks. They fired repeated salvos, slowly backing up as the being advanced closer and its aim brought down two more soldiers.

"This is 8th squad! We are under attack by an unknown hostile! Repeat, we are under a-AH!" The Sergeant's final scream was all General Grash heard before the new and improved Gaz Membrane stomped on his head and communicator, crushing both under her boot.

In a brief moment where her old personality rose, Gaz whispered under the helmet. "_Whiner..._"

Xxx

End of Chapter!


	13. Breaking Free

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 for his assistance.

Xxx

"_The whole empire?" The Caterpillar asked._

"_Yes, my lord," Said Eder-known to the Caterpillar as the Scorpion for how his lower body was exactly like that of a scorpion, complete with a stinger and all. "Tallest Purple has fallen, and...we believe that _he_ was spotted in the palace at the time of the murder?"_

"_Did he commit the murder?" The Caterpillar leaned forward._

"_No, we know for a fact that he didn't," The Scorpion shook his head. "...it was one of the current Tallests. His name has been wiped from the database of the Empire entirely, we only have his alias: Tallest Blue."_

"_Blue...like..." The Caterpillar looked down, sniffing. "Like mother..."_

_The Scorpion nodded. "I know my lord...like Miyuki...she was the leader of Irken Society for a brief time in this universe but it pains me to say she is dead also...but there is an interesting development that might be our salvation." He presented the Caterpillar the images of five Irkens. "During the reign of the Tallest Splorchamheimer, she led a project relating to Irken Fertility. In addition to hundreds of partial successes, she produced five smeets of her own. Two of them are female...and they are both _fertile._"_

_The Caterpillar gasped. "You mean..."_

"_Yes my lord," The Scorpion smiled warmly. "This could be our chance to save our empire. I have acquired samples of their blood and a study of their immune systems...the results showed the bio-weapon being neutralized entirely. These two are immune to the virus that Red and Purple unleashed on us, as will any of their children be. And if one of their children were to be born into this empire..."_

_The Caterpillar shuddered. "...I swore never to do such a thing again."_

"_I know my lord," The Scorpion said sympathetically. "But if we are going to survive...we need to spread this immunity to the whole empire."_

Xxx

_**That answered quite a few questions, didn't it? This chapter won't focus on Rik and his group, but rather on Paneece and her escape. Watch carefully, listen, and maybe if you are lucky you'll see her warm up to the Caterpillar a bit...not.**_

Xxx

Paneece slipped on the squeaky clean floors again. "Gah! Why is this guy such a clean freak?" Standing up, she grabbed onto the wall and guided herself along, at some points literally sliding along the floors.

"Panny..." It was a whisper from right behind her, making her spin and fall on the floor again.

"OW!" She rubbed her back and got up.

"Panny..."

"Oh crap," She bit her lip and continued her search for the exit, finding a set of stairs-thankfully with a rug so she could stop slipping on the marble floors.

"You're in trouble..."

When Paneece reached the bottom of the steps she found herself in what seemed to be the foyer of the castle. A set of tall double doors stood at the opposite end of the room. With a grin she rushed across the floor towards them-finding the floors were not slippery for once.

_Creeeak..._

They opened before she even reached them, and _he_ stood there, arms crossed and a frown on his face. Behind him several more Irkens stood, keeping their distance however. Paneece stopped, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

The Caterpillar shook his head back and forth, speaking softly, mournfully. "Paneece...really. I'm simply..._disappointed_ in you." He stared at her coldly. "I treat you like a princess, and ask only for your trust...and you try to do this."

"You're _surprised?_" Paneece swallowed, her right hand gripping one of the doors.

"No, only ashamed that you would take advantage of my trust," His eyes narrowed. "It is time to go back to your room...and after this you won't be leaving it for quite a while. If you're going to act like a spoiled brat I'm going to _treat you like one._"

Paneece promptly slammed the right door shut, and as the Caterpillar moved forward she slammed the left one shut and grabbed a chair resting next to the doors. She smashed it on the floor and jammed one of its legs through both of the handles on the doors. The adrenaline fuelling her allowed her to finish her task just before the Caterpillar slammed into the door.

"Stay the hell away from me!" Paneece shouted through the doors before she rushed back the way she had come from.

Outside, the Caterpillar sighed irritably and looked to the Irkens standing guard. "Stop her from leaving this way...I'll find her myself." He then smashed the doors down with a simple telekinetic blast and slithered through.

Xxx

"So it's going to be like that then?" The Caterpillar's voice echoed through every part of the castle-he probably had speakers positioned everywhere...or he was using his power to project his voice from around every corner and from every shadow to fool her. "Very well then Panny, but this is my castle, you can't hide from me in my own home. There is nowhere you can run..."

Suddenly as she turned a corner there he was! He had teleported in front of her, a smug look on his face. "_And nowhere you can hide._"

He reached for her, but she took advantage of the slippery floor and slid under his arms, past his snake like body and came up in a lunge. She rolled as she landed and dived through the door behind the Caterpillar and slammed the door shut. She pressed herself up against it in a futile effort. The Caterpillar was a lot bigger and a lot stronger, he sent the door flying open and Paneece went sprawling. She scrambled back as he began to fit through the door, looking thoroughly _pissed _at her now.

He reached out with his telekinesis to lift her off of the floor, but the former Invader activated one of the few PAK systems he had not thought to disable...mostly to make her feel more secure. The system was a Vortex Disruption unit, specifically designed against those with psychokinetic abilities to the point where it could disable any with such powers within fifty feet for several minutes.

When he tried to grab her, he found that his telekinesis did not work. Frowning, he decided to go after her the old fashioned way as she got to her feet and rushed out of the pantry room they had come into through a second door that led into the kitchen, and then the dining hall. She leaped over the empty table, grabbing a chair on the opposite side and smashing one of the legs off. She glanced back and saw him just as he burst into the room.

He was almost right on top of her now! Paneece swung the table leg and managed to catch him off guard, hitting him in the left wrist and making him recoil. She took advantage of this and slipped out of the dining hall with her makeshift weapon.

When he did not follow her, she peeked back into the dining hall cautiously in case this was a trick. He was gone...

"Just keep running...keep running," She whispered. "This is your only chance Panny so just _run!_"

She explored, taking her time now that the Caterpillar was not chasing her anymore. She did not find any stair ways that led down no matter where she looked. Finally she stopped in front of a door marked as the Study...

If she remembered a passing comment from the Caterpillar, then the study was right down the hall from her own room, the exact opposite of where she wanted to be! The Caterpillar had wanted to keep her close while he worked in case this sort of thing happened. She had gone in one big damn circle!

"Gotta get out of here," She whispered under her breath before she decided to take the same way she had used the first time to the foyer, deciding to risk the Caterpillar's guards.

She did not slip once this time. She was now on balance and determined not to be recaptured...then again she still had not yet escaped. If she could just get outside she could find some way off of the planet. They had to have ships if they transported her to where ever they were, or at least a transporter!

She dashed down the stairs and saw the open doors. The Irkens outside saw her and snapped to attention. None of them had weapons on them-nothing she could see anyways, but their PAKs could have defensive systems that could stop her long enough for the Caterpillar to catch up. She might wind up quickening her own return to her prison this way...

But there was nowhere else for her to go now...this was the only exit possible.

"Damn it..." She put her head in her hands. "This whole castle is insane..."

"That's the point," She heard him right behind her and spun with a yelp. He was not there, but then again he could be anywhere. She had to block him out of her mind! She couldn't be his prisoner again, she had to get out of this insane castle!

She rushed towards the doors, not bothering to use caution. She did not care if she had to beat a few Irkens to get away, she just had to get away from the maniac who was planning to use her as some portable smeetery!

But then he was leaping down from the ceiling, his body coiled and armed with a furious expression. "That is _enough!_"

His tail shot forward, and before Paneece could react he had swept her feet out from under her. Then as she tried to turn over so she could get up and flee he was on top of her, pinning her down. He held both of her wrists in one large hand and forced them over her head. She kicked and squirmed, feeling her pulse race as she fought to escape.

"**Enough.**" He hissed into her antennae, making her stop stiff.

He had her pinned now, and the way he spoke made her too scared to act. Usually he was always so happy and warm despite how she rejected his 'hospitality'. To see him like this was nothing short of unnerving.

"I am NOT all peaches and cream, Paneece, there is a dark side I have within my heart. I have tried to keep you from seeing it, tried to be as gentle with you as I can, but you continue to resist me and throw my kindness back in my face." He leaned down, moving his hands to grasp the sides of her face so that her terror filled eyes were forced to look at him. He snarled. "Do **not** test me again, or my fury may _override my patience!_"

Paneece reacted out of panic-ironic as she had always been the one to cause that in others. Before she knew it she had head butted the Caterpillar, startling him enough for her to jam her knee into his chest-or what she assumed was comparable to his chest area and shove him off. She let out a wild shout and leaped after him, slamming him into the wall behind him. She felt tears of fury pooling at her eye lids as she proceeded to hit the Caterpillar with everything she had.

"I! AM! NOT! YOUR! FLORPING! TOY!" She shouted with each blow. "I'm not being your breeder," THUD! "I'm not carrying a child for a complete _psycho!" _CRACK! "Your _kindness_ is just a damn mask!" She had him by the throat with both hands, squeezing. "You're going to just force me to carry a smeet somewhere along the road so either cut the crap and get it over with or let me go. But don't _you_ test me or _my_ fury will override _my_ patience you motherless-"

_Thud._

She stiffened, and fell off of the Caterpillar, a dart sticking out of her neck. The Caterpillar looked off to the side to see his wife lowering the dart gun. The Holy Irken Empire had few in the way of weapons, but dart guns and other non lethal weapon had been purchased out of necessity. Aside from that the settlements relied on powerful shields that could stand up to the _Massive's_ cleansing beam to protect the population in the event of an invasion.

"Are you ok?" Tak, formerly known as the Monarch asked as she rushed over and helped her husband up.

"Yes..." The Caterpillar rubbed his neck and got up, looking down at the unconscious Paneece. "I shouldn't have lost my temper."

"I'm surprised you didn't lost it earlier," Tak said as she glared down at the girl. "Stupid girl, if she would just cooperate we could get through this a lot faster."

"But she was right Tak," The Caterpillar sighed, picking Paneece up. "I told her I wouldn't force myself on her to conceive the children we need, but there's no way that down the road she would willingly mate with me with how she's been treated."

"We gave her furnishings that would make emperors jealous and-"

"It's not about a bed room or clothes or food, darling," The Caterpillar shook his head. "I caught a glimpse of her thoughts...she feared she would end up like her sister before she faked her death. She thinks she will be nothing to us but some pleasure drone."

"We already told her-"

"Irkens in this universe are not kind, at least not the majority," The Caterpillar said as they both began to walk back to Paneece's room. "Perhaps I should have approached this a different way; perhaps I should have asked her directly and explained our plight to her."

"Hm...wait..." Tak snapped her fingers. "I have it."

"What?"

"You still know where Skullene is, correct?"

"Yes but I'm not going to chase her down to bring her back here again," The Caterpillar shook his head. "Trying to would only damage her recovery and I already upset her enough."

"I'm not saying you should switch Paneece for Skullene," Tak shook her head. "Paneece doesn't know that Skullene is really alive, does she?"

"No..." The Caterpillar began to realize what Tak's idea was...a bit. "I'm guessing you have one of two ideas."

"Mhm!" Tak was beaming.

"That either I blackmail Panny into agreeing to help us in exchange for letting her see her sister..." Caterpillar said. "Or I show her to her sister and hope that it makes her grateful enough to agree."

"And I know that you don't want to have to force her," Tak nodded, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. "Neither of us want to see that happen again, trust me. Maybe seeing her sister will be a big help."

"Alright...tomorrow I'll talk with her," The Caterpillar nodded. "Tell the operators in High Command to monitor Ionia in case Skullene moves."

"Easy," Tak nodded. "We might not be able to spot her among a crowd but when her guard's down she pops up here and there in the colony with her..._escort_."

"Good," The Caterpillar carried Paneece into her room and set her in bed. "This actually could work out..."

"At least she didn't stab you with the chair leg like Skullene did when you brought her here," Tak joked.

"Yeah...that was on real she-devil," The Caterpillar shuddered as he recalled the encounter. "I pray that I never get on her bad side again, but then again when she learns I basically repeated what I did to her with her sister I'm pretty sure chances of avoiding that will be shot."

Xxx

End of chapter

NGrey651 and I ended up role-playing Paneece's escape and recapture. It was a lot shorter at first and Paneece was a lot more timid at the end, but I decided to extend and modify parts, specifically around the end. I'll be focusing a bit more on Rik and Zim for the next chapter or two.


	14. New Path Arc, Truth and Freedom

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 for his assistance.

Xxx

Zim sniggered as he examined the remains of the Irken soldiers. "Foolish Irkens-uh I mean uh...foolish _defective_ Irkens!"

"Pot, this is kettle, over," Loe mumbled as he tried to call in Elay using his radio. "Gah..."

"Silence!" Zim snapped at the green eyed Irken. "Now, Gaz-Slave, go to stand-by mode!"

"Yes, master." Gaz replied before she ceased to move.

"You know when Rik gets up here he's gonna kick your ass, right?" Kronos glared at the bane of his mother. "And I'm gonna laugh, until I _die._" Rik had barely managed to persuade the psychic to not kill Zim immediately before they had split up.

"Why would Rikalo have the need to harm the almighty ZIIMMM!" Zim shouted his name at the end of the sentence before Drosco slapped a hand over his mouth and hushed him before pulling away. Zim whispered-rather _loudly._ "Why would Rikalo have the need to harm _Ziiiim?_"

"Because you made that girl into your slave and turned her into a cyborg soldier to do your bidding?" Drosco raised both nonexistent eyebrows. "Well for starters."

"Bah! If I freed her now you would beg Zim to make her his obedient slave again," Zim scoffed. "As I said before she was a nightmare of a human, a SPOILED worm child who would do as she wished without fear of repercussions! Well Zim showed her!"

"Again, hypocrite," Loe sighed.

"Now, call your ship so we may escape now!"

"What do you think I'm doing, genius?" Loe replied as patiently as he could. "Elay won't pick up."

"I hate to interrupt but we have company!" Zafre called from the roof of the bunker, leaping down and landing expertly in a half crouch. "A lot more of those Mutant Soldiers, and I do mean a _lot_ more."

Then they burst out of the trees, shrieking and hissing; tongues whipping and claws grabbing. One slammed into Vexus, who swore and grappled with it. He finally got it by the throat and wrenched the mutant into the air, slamming it into the ground with a roar. A second one came at him, only for him to grab it too by the throat as it slammed into him. As the others fought more of the mutants Vexus was pressed against the wall of the bunker.

"Vexus!" Kay shouted, forgetting to activate her voice filter as she rushed towards her mate to help him, only for the crime lord to wave her off.

"Don't worry about me!" He grunted, managing to keep both of the mutants away from him with his hands and elbows-the latter for when he gestured for Kay away. "I've got this..."

He lunged his upper body forward and head butted the mutant on the left, stunning it and then slamming it into the side of the right mutant's skull. Releasing them both, he landed a left hook to the face of the second mutant, knocking it down. Then he grabbed the antennae of the first mutant and bent them forwards, pressing his right foot into the mutant's chest. He pushed with his leg and pulled with his arms. With a shriek of pain and the sound of ripping tissue the two antennae tore loose in twin fountains of blood.

Dropping the appendages, Vexus stepped on the neck of the mutant he had knocked down before it could get up. He brought his other foot off the ground so that his one foot put all of his weight on the spine of the mutant, snapping its neck. Stepping off and wiping his boot on the grass, he faced the now deaf and enraged mutant, tensing as it rushed him. As it leaped at him, he side stepped it and grabbed it around the middle, using its momentum to carry it forward and slammed it head first into the wall of the bunker.

Dropping the mutant, which by now had a concussion Vexus turned to see Kay prancing out of reach of a third Irken Mutant. The IM was fast, but Kay had training and experience while it had sheer anger fuelling its moves. The cloak clad Irken leaped up and grabbed a low branch as it tried to tackle her around the waist, only for it to catch on her cloak and pull the fabric taught. Kay gasped and was pulled out of the tree, landing on top of the mutant...which was the worst place to be.

Scrambling away, she managed to pull a knife from her boot as the mutant came up. The IM impaled itself on the blade, and she tore it upwards, spilling its intestines down her arm and splattering some fluids all over her. Turning a more sickly shade of green, she pulled her knife back and got up as the IM collapsed in front of her.

"KAY LOOK OUT!"

DOW!

Kay spun, startled and bringing her knife up in time to see a fourth IM on the ground, a hole blasted in its stomach by Vexus, who lowered the now smoking pistol in his hand. Sadly Loe had been in earshot when Vexus had forgotten to identify his mate by her alias and turned, seeing her with her hood down and her cloak torn to the point where he could clearly see her features. He dropped the IM he had been strangling with his robotic arm, his one good eye staring at Kay.

"No..no it-it isn't..." He whispered.

Kay felt like she was a little rat trapped in a box staring upwards at her full sized captor. But then she noticed amidst the various scuffles another IM moving out of the trees and right for Loe. She reared her knife arm back and flicked her wrist as she swung forward, flinging the knife through the air and slicing into the right shoulder of the IM, causing it to stumble long enough for Loe to realize what was happening. He turned and bared the metallic claw of his robot arm before jamming it deep into the rib cage of the IM, snapping bones and crushing organs within. He tossed the dead IM aside and turned back towards Kay, only to see Vexus between them and firing into the horde of mutants.

Drosco stayed by Lerak and Phela to defend them while the tranquilizer still impeded their movements-and Gaulia who was recovering from her knife wounds. He fluidly beat any IM that got close, pushing aside its claws and punching it, kicking its legs out from under it, or even snapping its neck. Though he did not relish killing he knew the necessity to defend himself. And the code of the Sheyi permitted killing in self defence.

Another IM approached, and jabbed the open palm of his right hand forward, the heel of that hand striking the throat of the IM and cutting off its oxygen supply momentarily. Next he reached up with his left hand while pulling it closer with his right one and grabbed the tips of the IM's antennae. He crushed both tips in his hand, making the IM squeal in pain. Finally he drove his right knee into its ribs.

With its oxygen supply cut off, its sensitive hearing used against it to daze it, and what little energy it had for its muscles spent the IM dropped. It had all barely taken over a second for him to defeat it.

Two more focused on him, seeing him as a greater threat standing between them and easy prey. But then Gaz was there, clotheslining both of them without stopping and stomping over to where BlackJack and Kronos were fighting off six IMs. She grabbed the first one and twisted its head around a full 180 degrees with a single motion. As it fell like a sack of bricks she swung her right arm and backfisted the second IM closest to her right across the face. Several of its teeth flew out as Gaz grabbed it and tossed it into two of the other mutants. She stood over the three was they tried to get up and produced a long blade of pink energy from her right gauntlet. She jammed it down and twisted, impaling all three of the mutants at once.

Janie came to BlackJack and Kronos' aid, firing a plasma pistol with surprising accuracy. Three shots caught one of the two remaining mutants in the back, and as it turned clumsily a fourth shot caught it in the head. The final one turned to Janie and lunged at her. Panicking, she dropped her pistol. BlackJack reached for her own, only to see Janie swing both of the knives given to her out. The one in her right hand swung upwards, slicing through the stomach and intestines as she danced out of the way of the lumbering monster. Her left one, held in a reverse grip swung medially (towards the center of her body), slicing through the neck of the mutant and nearly decapitating it.

BlackJack nodded. "Heh, gotta admit, I thought you were all looks."

"Lots of people do," Janie shrugged. "I'm only out of practice, I'm not helpless."

"I can tell," BlackJack then fired her gun right past Janie five times and into the two IMs that had leaped down from the trees and landed behind the pink eyed Irken.

Kronos glanced up and saw more IMs, some of which were being picked off by Credaran. Immediately the hybrid teleported upwards and surprised an IM, kicking it in the face and knocking it out of the tree. Another one lunged for him, but only grabbed thin air while Kronos appeared on its back and sank his knife deep into its neck before vanishing with the weapon. The second IM plummeted also.

Reappearing by BlackJack and Janie, the three of them fought their way back to the main group.

"Is Rik even awake down there?" Loe growled, glancing back at the bunker.

"What kind of question is that?" Zim demanded, hiding behind Gaz as she blasted multiple IMs with her anti-infantry blaster set to full automatic until it suddenly stopped. "Uh oh, OUT OF AMMO!" Gaz dropped the large gun and engaged the IMs in hand to hand combat while two advanced on Zim, who swallowed.

"Meep!" He leaped upwards with his PAK legs as they both lunged at him. Then he landed on top of the first one, knocking it to the ground and making it land on top of the second one...the whole time Zim was screaming his head off...until he saw what he did... "Victory for Zim!"

"Rik always milks it after he kills a professional," Loe shook his head. "I sent the elevator back for him ten minutes ago! I swear if he's snoozing down there I'm gonna-"

Xxx

"Use Loe's antennae for a noose if he doesn't get this damn communicator working!" Rik grunted as he dove forward, rolling as Belthiad threw more knives and some Shuriken his way. Rik got to his feet and leaned to the left so another such weapon just barely missed him.

Bringing his gun up, he fired twice back at Belthiad, who dove to his left, twisting counter clockwise in mid air and swinging his right arm up over himself and throwing a small sphere at Rik. As Belthiad landed outside the room in the hallway the sphere detonated, sending out a noxious cloud of smoke. Rik coughed and immediately leaped out of the room only to meet Belthiad's fist to the left side of his jaw.

The bounty hunter's blow staggered Rik, allowing him to jab his left fist forward and punch him in the center of his face. Rik blocked the third blow with his left elbow and twisted to the left, slamming his right elbow into Belthiad's ribs. Placing his right hand on Belthiad's right should and pulling the Irken's right arm up using his left hand he pressed his elbow into Belthiad's throat and locked his right leg around Belthiad's right leg. He toppled them both over and made Belthiad gasp as he felt the sudden pressure on his air way.

Rik moved his right leg up and pressed his knee to Belthiad's stomach to keep him pinned while he slowly suffocated. Finally Belthiad managed to slip his left hand under Rik's elbow and use it to brace against the limb. He shoved Rik off just as several IMs charged down the corridor, howling and eager for blood. Rik darted past Belthiad for the elevator as the bounty hunter got up.

Pressing the button, Rik leaned against the back wall as the doors slammed shut on the IMs at the last second and carried him up to safety...

The IMs looked to Belthiad as though considering him as lunch.

"Don't try it," He grunted, and the IMs instantly began to whimper and bow to him.

"Good boys," He paused when several of the IMs growled. "And uh...bitches (as in the female dog term you sickos)."

Xxx

Paneece whimpered as she awoke, dreading what would happen when the Caterpillar came back. She had failed...now he was definitely not going to let his guard down around her now. She sat up, quivering as she imagined what he would do. Despite how nice he usually acted, she knew that he could only play along for so long. He said that his empire needed her to carry a _lot_ of smeets...

Soon he'd just cut the act; he couldn't get his smeets unless she was impregnated, and she wasn't about to agree to his demands.

"I told you, I would _never_ force myself upon you," His voice made her almost scream and leap out of bed. She looked at him where he was positioned across the room. He set down a book he was reading, something that was translated into basic Irken as 'Romeo and Juliet'. "And your actions...though they antagonized me, you did have a valid point."

He did not try to go near her when she got up. "I've realized that I have been in error Paneece...though I have no excuse, the Irkens of this universe are often paranoid an violent. I had feared there would be no room to...discuss this with you."

"You mean like a _regular_ Irken?" Paneece demanded.

"Well...I have a proposal for you," The Caterpillar said. "No strings attached at all, you won't have to do anything for me except trust me."

"...what is it?" She asked cautiously.

"Paneece, do you recall the supposed death of your sister, Skullene?"

Paneece nodded. "Yes."

"How long ago was that now?" The Caterpillar thought to lighten the tension a bit before he got to the point with some idle chat.

"Thirty seven years ago."

"Yes...I do recall, it was that long ago that I saw her," The Caterpillar paused, realizing he had made a mistake in saying that. _Oh dear..._

Suddenly Paneece had crossed the room and slammed into him. He was taken off guard and forced into the wall behind him, grasping Paneece's wrists as she tried to reach for his neck.

"Did you have something to do with that?" She demanded. "Did you try to do to her what you're doing to me?"

"No!" The Caterpillar replied, managing to force both of her wrists over her head as she tried to kick at him. "I did not kill her, but I did bring her here thirty seven years ago in the hopes that she would bear a child for my people."

He stood up straight as Paneece stopped trying to kick him, but he kept her suspended off the ground by her wrists. "She reacted...violently, injuring a number of my people and staging multiple attempts. Further along she fooled me...she injured her own leg and passed herself off as too weak to be a threat. Using that, she snuck out of her room and found out when one of our regular transport ships would arrive with supplies for the settlement. She made an improvised explosive and broke out of the castle, hijacked the ship and escaped."

He set Paneece down. "She returned to where we took her from oddly, and then staged her supposed death a month later."

Paneece gaped. "W...what?"

"There were a factor of things I had not been aware of; and my actions only contributed to her decision," The Caterpillar reached into the folds of the white robe he wore and showed Paneece several pictures.

There was Skullene...with the date on the picture being the day she 'died'. She was rushing out of the apartment building where she had lived after her victory at the reality show and tournament Battle of Alluria. She was holding something, a bundle that could not be clearly seen. She looked scared...which was odd for somebody of her talent.

"I admit that she feared being taken by me again, and that did contribute to her choice. However I think it will be better if she told you the truth herself," The Caterpillar said as he coiled around Paneece once, not touching her though. "We have kept an eye on her, not with the intent to take her here again, but out of...well quite frankly guilt on my part. I spent the next several decades trying to find another way to save my race, but when my options ran low I took you."

"Wait...you said...she'd tell me..." Her eyes widened as she comprehended what he was telling her. "You're taking me to see her?"

The Caterpillar nodded. "Yes."

"And...I won't have to do anything for you? This isn't some way to blackmail me into accepting your demands?" Paneece asked, sceptical.

"I promise that you will not be under any obligation to do anything in return for this," The Caterpillar said firmly.

"This is...before I was knocked out you were pissed at me...why the change of heart?"

"...I didn't want to ruin a family any further," The Caterpillar turned away. "I still want you to help us, but I am not going to resort to abandoning my morals. I learned long ago that the ends do not justify the means, and that it is the journey itself rather than the end of the journey that matters." (For anybody interested, that line was related to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.)

He pulled away from her. "If you wish, I can take you tonight."

Paneece nodded eagerly. She was all too glad to see her sister for several reasons, the chief one being that once she found out that the Caterpillar was repeating what he had done to her with her younger sister she would help Paneece escape! But...the Caterpillar's words drew her curiosity.

"I will have my ship prepared at once," The Caterpillar smiled softly.

"Before you go...why do you need me at all?" Paneece asked.

"Because we are unable to-"

"I know that much," she interrupted. "I meant...what caused your empire to be like this in the first place?"

The Caterpillar's antennae drooped. "...I suppose that I do owe you the whole truth for your troubles...very well." He patted her bed, gesturing for her to sit down, which she did.

"In my universe, I was the ruler of Irken Society alongside two leaders of the military: Red and Purple."

"I know them! Purple was killed years ago, and Red has his own empire now." Paneece nodded.

"Indeed. In my empire, I had been attempting to bring back the Old Method of breeding, the natural method while encouraging marriage and love. But Red and Purple refused to accept this, or even tolerate it. In the end it boiled down to a civil war between my followers and those who followed Red and Purple, and were not unlike the Old Empire. We won...but in their hatred our enemy chose to strip us of our fertility with a bio weapon. We needed another species to act as an incubator and seed giver...but none would take us. So we discovered a distant world where our survivors settled among the inhabitants...Earth."

As he spoke his powers conjured a picture of a blue world.

"The humans, the natives of the planet accepted us as I manipulated them with my powers...disregarding right or wrong my people used them as breeding stock. Some of our number spoke out against it, one in particular...our champion, the one who saved my life in the civil war and helped to end it in our favour. You know him in this universe...he is heard of on the Galactic Net every day and night and called a criminal."

He conjured an image of his champion, a red eyed Irken clad in black and red. He looked so similar to...

"Rikalo was his name, though he preferred to be called 'Rik'."

Paneece gasped. "Rik? But he's the biggest flirt in the galaxy!" Or so he had been when she last saw him decades ago. "Being a champion or soldier seems...so unlike him."

"Well he was our champion in my world...and he and I argued heatedly," Caterpillar continued. "He said that in doing this, we had become as worse as Red and Purple, that we should instead use the Pod Born method until we could resolve our fertility problem on our own. He reasoned that we live long lives and could eventually fix it, but I would not listen...I was as blind as our enemy. In the end I had him arrested and tormented, trying to break his will so he would agree to stand beside me once more. But then...something happened..." His eyes shut. "Somebody...freed Rik...somebody who gave him the power to destroy all of humanity in one fell swoop."

The image of Earth was set aflame, and Paneece watched as a civilization sizzled out.

"To control the humans I used a psychic amplifier, as I was the only psychic among our people I was the only one who could use it. But this...visitor, he gave Rik powers of his own. He used it to control humanity...and he killed them all with one thought. Then he set fire to the world so that we might not clone the humans. In the end billions of humans and millions of my people died. What you see in this one settlement is all that remains...just under a hundred thousand and dropping slowly."

Paneece found her hands covering her mouth as she stared on in astonished horror.

"I found a way to bring my empire to this universe where we might rebuild...and we began to find Irkens suitable for breeding. We would bribe them with gifts and promises, often erasing their memories and letting them go." He sighed. "But then...we found out about you and Skullene...the legacies of Tallest Miyuki. Your immune system has kept you from getting so much as a minor flu in your life time, and has protected you from deadly bio weapons." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and surprisingly she did not flinch away. "Your body is immune to the disease that ravages us...and given decades we could create a cure but my people lose hope...soon we will be found, and we are not able to fight off an invasion fleet. We need to grow again...and one or two Irkens born fertile could change everything for my empire."

He looked into her eyes pleadingly. "That is why I need you to help us Paneece...that is why I took you." He gently enveloped her in a hug. "And I am so sorry that you were brought into the problems of my own making."

Paneece gently forced him away from her, keeping him at arm's length. Though when she had asked first, he only gave a vague answer...but now that he told her everything he seemed to appear in a new light...she pitied him instead of hating him now.

"...I want to see Skullene before I decide anything," She decided. "I want to see my big sister again."

"And you shall," The Caterpillar nodded. "I promise."

Xxx

End of chapter!

And just to entertain you all a bit...

...

...

Presenting...

...

...

**THE OMAKE ADVENTURES OF RIK'N ZIM!**

**Episode One: REPETITION**

"Ok, it's done," Zim held up the device.

"This'll get us back to our universe?" Rik asked suspiciously.

"You doubt Zim? I shall show you!" Zim activated the device, causing them to be transported into his lab...

Where they found alternate versions of themselves making out.

"...hate it."

"Hate it." They switched to another universe...

Where Zim was making out with Tak.

"...Love it." Zim smiled.

"Hate it." Rik tapped the remote.

Now Zim was making out with...Tallest Red?

"Lovin' it!"

"Hatin' it more," Rik teleported them to the next universe.

Now Zim was making out with Dib.

"...Lovin' it now that you're not so smug," Rik smirked.

"NEXT!" Zim took them to a universe...and found Zim in an oddly placed bed, snuggled with Dib, Tak, Gaz, Tallest Red _and_ Lard Nar.

"...am I the only one seeing a pattern here?" Rik asked.

The next universe took them to a different location...and showed Paneece and the Caterpillar in bed together. They all stared at one another.

"Uh..." Zim looked at his scanner. "Right universe..."

"But _really _bad timing," Rik finished.

"...can we not tell my brothers about this?" Paneece asked, blushing deeply.


	15. New Path Arc, Juxtaposed Dealings

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced.**

**Velrik, Janie's husband. (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter. (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 for his assistance.

Xxx

_The past years had been kind to her despite her family being split up. De Rien was getting by with help from her friends Cynder and Feneth, and some more from Lok at the request of Rik until he went off the grid several weeks ago. Her sons were growing up, Ouri now old enough that he didn't feel the need to have Fren as his constant protector. Fren was now a teenager and was helping his mother to work around the house. _

_She was on the front lawn of the house, fixing the drone designed to mow the grass. She paused as her antennae twitched once, sensing something unseen but close enough for its footsteps to alert. Standing up, she glanced towards the house to make sure that her sons were inside. Seeing Fren in the living room and hearing Ouri playing up in his room, she took a cautious glance around the property._

"_I'm not after you if that's what you're wondering," A familiar voice said._

"_R-Rik?" De turned and gasped as she came face to face with her long estranged husband._

"_Oh...so that computer was right then?" He smirked._

"_W-what?"_

"_We're really married?"_

"_Rik what are you talking about? Of course we are-were." Why was Rik acting like this?_

_His attire reflected a very different personality. He wore a black and red uniform instead of his ruffled and used clothes. His smile was not like it used to be, warm and humorous; but cold and mocking._

"_I was hoping that he would be here when I showed up...it looks like both of us have problems keeping to a commitment," Rik nodded._

"_You...you're not..." De backed away._

"_Clever deduction, _Darlin',_" Rik mocked._

"_Who are you?" De demanded, hands balling into fists as she prepared to defend herself and her family._

"_Can't you see darlin'?" Rik asked innocently. "It's me, Rikalo."_

"_Rik never liked using his full name without the word 'Rik' after it." De frowned. "You're not him..."_

"_We're goin' in a circle here," Rik shook his head. "Now...I need to find that annoying husband of yours, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't make this too difficult."_

_He cracked his knuckles. "But don't worry...I won't separate the two of you...for long."_

Xxx

_**Don't worry, De Rien's part in this story has only just begun, she still has her own...contribution to make to Rik's adventure. Without her he will never reach his destiny at all, out of all others she is the one who won't be killed in such a way.**_

_**Maybe that's why I never tried to interfere when Rik started his little family...or maybe Red and Purple interfered before I had the chance to. Would Rik have been better off raising his own family? Or would they have held him back from what he must do? It hardly seems fair of me to decide that, so I shall not. Despite what I know Rik must do, I cannot manipulate him to do this. I only planted the seed for his journey to begin...when I made sure that he would not be the precious little drone Red wishes to see in all of his subjects.**_

_**But enough spoilers, the next part has begun. So read on!**_

Xxx

"I said it once and I'll say it again!" Loe shouted as the elevator doors opened behind the group. "_Is Rik even awake down there?_"

His answer came in the form of Rik stomping past him, holding up the floating trolley used to move Gaz. He swung it in a clockwise arch that sent two of the IMs sprawling and then charged forward with it, bowling over two more. Tossing it aside, he stomped down on the neck of one and twisted his foot. The other grabbed his pant leg only for Rik to drop the knee of that leg down onto its face and roll to the left to get away from it.

"For your information Loe, I don't sleep on the job anymore," Rik said as he joined the rest of the group, which had formed a sort of perimeter against the IM horde. "Are there any actual soldiers in with these freaks?"

"No, Elay is jamming scanners in the area, so Armada forces can't find us except by sight," Loe replied. "And Rik you're not going to believe it! Kay is-"

"LATER!" Kay insisted, firing her pistol again.

"I already knew that Loe!" Rik groaned. "She told me not to tell you yet! Well there goes _that_ little plan down the drain."

"Wait, you knew she was alive and never told me?" Loe's eyes blazed with fury before he tried to grab Rik by the neck. "I'm gonna-"

"Kill me after this is done!" Rik shoved him back before he reached over his left shoulder and grabbed the sword that he had taken from the Shadow Inquisitor back on Murderworld. The blade came free with a ringing noise, and then cleaved down through the middle of an IM's skull in a shower of Irken blood and fragments of bone mixing with the brain beneath before it was reduced to pulp. Tugging his sword free from the beast's neck, he swung horizontally and disembowelled a second IM.

A shape shot overhead, the Strike ship given to them by Envon. It was rising faster and faster over the region until...

"There's our distraction," Rik grinned before the ship exploded, becoming a dot of light followed by a wave of energy that shot out in every direction. "The radioactive dust from that will block Armada sensors entirely until they both isolate and remove it or the fallout comes down."

"You mean comes down where we're standing?" Zim demanded. "Are you nuts? Are you mad? Are you insane? Are you bonkers? Are you-are you- are YOU?" He pointed in Rik's face as the gunslinger coolly smiled back at him pleasantly. "Are YOU?"

"Am I what?"

"YOU!"

"...that's the furthest we'll get where this conversation makes sense," Rik shook his head. "Don't worry about the radiation Zim, we'll be long gone." He glanced up, as did the other fights and mutants. The two GESS-4's, who had burrowed their way out of the base to follow their master, stopped spouting flames as the Ranger settled overhead.

Without making her usual announcement of threats, Elay activated the turrets on the inferior (bottom) side of the ship and fired into the mass of IMs, carving a half circle around the group. The IMs fled, piling over one another like rabid animals and vanishing into the trees to get away. As the last one disappeared, a pink beam of light came down from the Ranger and surrounded the entire group.

"Here's our ride!" Rik grinned as they were all teleported up one at a time to the ship.

As the final team member appeared, Gaulia looked to Elay. "You know that shp will come out of your pay."

"Good thing we were promised fortunes," Elay replied, going back to the helm controls. "Now hang on, we're gonna be violating just about every single galactic traffic law fifty times over!" The ship shot forward so fast that for a moment the group was staggered by the speed before the interior stabilizer kicked in and steadied them against it.

"Hmmm...an interesting design," Zim nodded.

"It used to be a Veniran raider ship," Rik nodded as he took his seat. "A little spit'n polish fixed it all up-"

Suddenly Loe tackled Rik out of his seat and tried to hit him. Thankfully Rik managed to stop his robot hand short of his face or he would be dead. "The hell?"

"You knew that Kay was still alive and right with us and you never told me?" Loe demanded.

"Loe stop!" Kay rushed over and tackled Loe off of Rik, and then tried to stop Loe from attacking him again by hugging him around the waist and using her weight to slow him down-though that wasn't much of a barrier, she was barely a third of Loe's weight. "I asked him not to tell you!"

"Why?" Loe demanded as he pulled Kay up. "Kay, Lok and I spent months doing nothing but looking for you and three years of following every single lead that popped up! And when I find you, you _hide_ from me?"

"I...I didn't want you to see me," Kay admitted meekly. "I thought you'd be ashamed that I grew up just to be some filch."

"Kay..." Loe lowered his voice and suddenly hugged his adopted niece close and broke down into tears from his one good eyes. "I missed you so much...oh god I thought you were _dead_ or stuck in some mine by those pirates!"

Kay shook a bit, but gently hugged Loe back and sniffled, her face pressed against his now muscular torso. "...you've been working out."

That actually made Loe laugh a bit.

"Kay..." They remained like that.

Vexus smiled as he watched 'Cold Emotionless Shade' lose her apathetic mask and cry for once. Had he known that this Loe was from Kay's old team, he would have taken steps-discreetly to introduce them earlier. It seemed that fate had favoured him though. Maybe now Kay would be a little more...open and outgoing with her feelings in more places than just whichever bed she and Vexus met in.

"Uh...guys? I hate to interrupt but we have a problem," Lerak said as he took his position. "Power's being drained, there's something stuck in the teleporter matter stream."

"Well his the emergency purge then," Rik said.

"Already doing it," Lerak nodded...before three IMs appeared in the middle of the bridge. "Holy hell!"

"They must'a been tunnelling under us!" Rik grunted as he looked at the clumps of dirt falling off of the dazed mutants. Then all three of them shrieked at once, baring their teeth and advancing...one knocking over the moose toy that Loe had found in Zim's base.

Suddenly a low 'hum' came from the toy as it began to float off of the ground. It's eyes glowed bright pink, and the nubby legs wiggled a bit, as did its horns. The three IMs turned towards it, startled by its sudden activation.

It looked at the three, scanning all of them and judging the situation before it made its decision and said...

"Nyaa!" Then beams of energy shot out of its eyes and struck the three IMs, which were turned into dust instantly.

There was silence on the bridge before Zim leaped up in a victory pose. "Minimoose! Finally you have reawakened! And you defeated the enemy, GOOD JOB! Victory for Zim again!"

"Orders, master?" Gaz asked.

"Hm...give Zim a foot rub," Zim decided.

"OH no yah don't Zim," Rik said. "I heard bits of the whole 'slave' talk over the radio here and there...and the only thing I hate more than you are Tallest Red, Shadow, and slavers." He walked over to the shorter Irken. "So we're gonna have a talk about this 'slave' business, you and I."

"...meep!" Zim squeaked as everybody-minus GIR, Minimoose and Gaz leaned in towards him at once...

Xxx

Paneece was bouncing up and down in her seat like a smeet in a candy store. The Caterpillar was actually amused by this, but not in an insulting way...it made Paneece seem a far cry from her usual moody self she had been since her abduction. But seeing her sister for the first time in decades could do that to you.

Ionia was a Planet Jacket Protectorate world, taken from the Meekroobians before their planet was destroyed. It had once been the second moon of Meekroob, but the Planet Jackers put it and many other worlds to use after they realize that it would be easier than tossing them into their sun. Though primarily Planet Jackers occupied it, there were many Irkens from the Blue Empire-and to a lesser extent the Crimson Empire which had a neutral truce with the Protectorate. There were a few small cities built on the terraformed moon, and many smaller settlements in the lush countryside.

Paneece and the Caterpillar were in a hover car, driving along a designated highway away from the capital city.

"I contacted the two agents assigned to watch your sister," He explained. "I had assigned them in case another Tallest discovered her fertility and...did a less polite version of what I was trying to do. Nowadays without your smeeteries, breeder Irkens are in high demand, especially by Tallests. And to have one with an upwards of eighty percent guaranteed birth without defects is like a walking treasure. Though I think she knows about them."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because every chance she gets she beats one of them up or starts a bar fight and blames it on them," He frowned. "She might be the older sister but she's not as mature."

"She always did like to take big risks," Paneece sighed as they turned off onto a dirt road and followed it down a slope through the trees. They stopped in a lot outside of a 3 story metal building. It had a few windows here and there and seemed professionally designed.

"This used to be a warehouse," The Caterpillar was looking at a data pad as he got out with Paneece. "Skullene moved in an renovated it, and killed anybody who tried to take it from her. She chose it for the powerful design...and the cache of weapons left there by the previous owners, some small time drug ring with a few enforcers."

Suddenly three dots of blue light appeared on the Caterpillar, who froze as he saw several turrets pop out of the walls and aim right at him.

"_You've got balls to come back here after what you did last time you overdeveloped worm." _A male voice growled.

"Wait...she's got somebody in there with him?" Paneece asked before remembering that the Caterpillar was in danger. Though she did not particularly like him, he had proven truthful thus far. So she leaped in front of him. "Wait! Don't shoot! I'm Paneece, I have to see Skullene!"

There was silence for several seconds.

"..._Entry granted, but don't let that bastard out of your sight or I'll blow his head off._" The speaker said before the front doors slid open, admitting them both in.

The interior was dark, and the doors shutting behind them left them blind for a second before all of the lights flicked on at once, making Paneece flinch as her eyes adjusted.

"Don't move!" Paneece looked up and saw the speaker standing on a walkway above them.

He was young, barely a few decades old perhaps, and had classic red eyes. His antennae curved a little low for a male Irken, but his impressive physique would stop anybody from faulting him for one feature. He wore red body armour over a black suit, and the rifle he held was above a standard issue model for even military units. He had it locked onto the Caterpillar, who at first reached out with his telepathy...

Only to find that his powers were blocked.

"Vortex Distortion Field, worm," The Irken growled. "You didn't think I'd let you near her with your powers, did you?"

"Rine..." Paneece stiffened. "That's enough."

"Yes...mother." Rine lowered the rifle as a woman stepped out next to him. She was tall and slender, the man barely half a head taller than her. Her eyes were blue, darker than Paneece's and not as rounded, her antennae longer and sloping down into a lazy scythe shape. She wore a simple pair of black pants and a matching sleeveless shirt, her arms crossed as she leaned against the railing.

"Panny..." Her eyes widened a bit.

"Skully!" Paneece grinned as all of the lights in the room came on, revealing what looked like a large storage room. She saw a set of stairs and began to rush up while Skullene stepped down to meet her. They collided with a hug that knocked Skullene back onto the stairs as her younger sister embraced her. She smiled softly, stroking Paneece's antennae down...and then frowned as he looked up at the Caterpillar.

"You have _thirty_ seconds to tell me why you're here."

The Caterpillar maintained a calm appearance. "When I took you, you gave me sixty seconds to explain."

"You being within five feet of her lowered it to thirty." Skullene glanced up at the Irken, Rine and nodded. He aimed at the Caterpillar again.

"I'm only here because she asked me to bring her here to see you. And you should have told your own sister you were alive."

"I didn't have time-"

"You could have MADE time. You SHOULD have made time." He said stonily.

Suddenly Skullene was out of Paneece's grasp and punched the Caterpillar across the face. She went for a second one, but he caught her fist and swung her around into the wall next to him. They both grabbed one another by the throat as Rine shouted a warning. "Let her go!"

"Rine!" Skullene shouted. "Adults are talking here..." She leaned in. "And one doesn't have the right to be so high and mighty with me. That one happens to be a rapist."

The Caterpillar gently set her down. "...we fixed the hole you blew in the castle by the way."

Skullene nodded, retracting her hand. "I'm guessing you never gave Paneece a chance to escape after that little stunt? I mean...I snuck out of my room five or six times to get those files after you started doting on me over my leg." She chuckled. "But tell me...did you at least bother to see if _she_ had a three year old waiting at home for her? If you hadn't left Rine behind I might have been more incline to cooperate."

"Wait...three years old..." Paneece did the math in her head...Rine was three years old thirty seven years ago...

Rine was about forty years old then, so Skullene had been pregnant, perhaps during one of herself exiles that stretched for months. But she only had sex with one Irken in that time...and not consensually.

"OH god..." She stared at Rine, who winced when he saw the fear in her eyes. "You-you're-"

"Maneem told me what Riz did to her," Rine interjected. "...as far as I'm concerned he was never my father to begin with. I...I'm not like him, I promise..._Aunty._" He lowered the rifle again.

"I only learned of your son after you escaped..." The Caterpillar slithered away from Skullene. "If I had known I would have at least brought him with us so you could remain with him."

"If you had you'd have had your precious smeets by now," Skullene smirked. "Your mistake," The frown returned. "And now you took my sister, bigger mistake."

"I let her come here to see you,"

"And I'm not letting her go back with you." Skullene stated coldly. "I told you to play nice and you went and kidnapped my sister...you never learn."

"I'm willing to...but a lot of Irkens in this world are not so willing to help without gain," Caterpillar sighed.

"And in this case the gain is her freedom, after the same 'estimated decade'?" Skullene guessed. "All the while you told her you wouldn't force her into anything, but wouldn't let her go unless she mated?"

"...guilty," He mumbled. "But...you are in your rights to stop me from taking her...I have let myself stray from the correct path again with my actions."

"Skully..." Paneece whispered. "He told me a lot about why he needs my help."

"Told me also," Skullene nodded. "I was slightly less inclined to kill him on my way out because of it."

"But Skully...they could all _die._"

"They can make smeeteries, something other empires would kill for," Skullene shrugged. "If they're too stubborn to adapt, then they let themselves die. We owe nothing to their precious _Holy Empire._"

"Yeah...but I still think that I shouldn't condemn a whole civilization to die," Paneece admitted.

"...are you considering his offer?" Skullened turned to Paneece.

"...yes," Paneece whispered, looking down in shame before Skullene tilted her head up.

"If you do, I won't fault you for it, little sister," Skullene said gently. "We all do what we think is right...even if some find it wrong. And if you were to make a sincere, uninfluenced decision I would not have a problem with the worm over there mating with you." She looked at the Caterpillar. "Aside from a bad sexual history I mostly declined because I was so worried about Rine, and admittedly I was too scared to just tell you about him-considering how much of a psycho you can be at times."

"Why do you both keep _calling me that?_" The Caterpillar groaned.

"The kidnapping, the drugs, the mind reading and the manipulating, shall I go on?" Both Skullene and Paneece said in perfect unison as they stared dully at the Caterpillar.

"YOU try being born with psychic powers. Can you imagine being a _child_ and realizing you can't stop reading people's minds? All things considered, I turned out quite fine. My maneem was smart enough to realize what I was and train me so that I could turn it OFF when I wanted to." He shuddered. "Red and Purple were DEPRAVED. Thinking about that sort of DISGUSTING...and around three year-old dibbuns, no less."

"I guess some things don't change." Skullene thought out loud as she frowned at the thought of Red.

"I'm not a "psycho". I am...complicated." The Caterpillar defended.

"And those complications were coupled with the 'dark side' you showed me when you stopped my first escape attempt," Skullene said.

"I gotta agree with her one that one," Paneece nodded. "But I'm still deciding."

"Which brings me right back to the problem concerning the situation," Skullene said as a drone carried in drinks for them. She took a sip from her glass of Vortian Fire Whisky and looked at the Caterpillar. "You still have no intention of ever forcing yourself on my sister?"

"I've said so several times now."

"...and if she were to agree to your requests?"

"Then she would have my gratitude." The Caterpillar bowed his head.

"And favour?"

"Yes."

Skullene nodded slowly. "Good." she looked to Paneece. "Sister?"

"...If I do agree to any of this...I want a few conditions," Paneece said. "For starters: not being stuck in your castle for that estimated decade. Secondly, rights to see this alleged smeet or _smeets_. And third...medical technology and information." She leaned forward on the table a bit. "When you kidnapped me I was working on something important, if you have more advanced medical technologies then I want that as part of the deal. Meaning smeetery facilities"

"Most other Irkens would ask for a big freakin' gun, or a ship," Rine chuckled.

"Done." The Caterpillar said. "Those conditions are perfectly reasonable. And we'd be happy to give you access to our medical technology. Our weapons systems may be lacking, but we're quite proud of our leaps and bounds in the medical field. And you're not QUITE right, my boy." He told Rine.

"Eh?"

"Most have actually asked to be made taller. I believe it is a "self-confidence" issue that plagues many Invaders." The Caterpillar admitted. "They equate physical height and power with perfection. Now don't get me wrong leaders like Splorchamheimer, Miyuki or Spork did well, but often Irkens see height through the rosy lens of neurotic joy."

Skullene relaxed and called Rine down. "Alright...If Panny agrees to this...I won't stop her...but if you allow her to be hurt at all. Do realize that all of my brothers will have to get in line behind me for when I'm done with you."

"I would never allow harm to befall her," The Caterpillar said firmly, but swallowed at the twinkle in Skullene's eyes-it only meant she was imagining how to cause him a headache, he learned that from the.

"Good."

"But hold on one second Skullene!" Paneece raised her voice. "You vanished for thirty seven years and that ends now! If you don't tell Envon about this, I will."

Skullene stared at her sister. "..." She looked away, blushing a bit in shame. "...I guess I couldn't hide from the galaxy forever...alright Panny...I'll go back to Envon. But don't tell him who Rine's father is. I don't want people to think lowly of him for Riz. He is a fine man and he deserves better than scorn."

"Deal," Paneece nodded.

"...but where have my manners been?" Skullene smiled and hugged her sister again. "Here I see you for the first time in decades and I don't even welcome you...or your new _mate._" She gestured towards a nearby door. "Come, let's have lunch...and the Disruptor Field stays up, I don't trust any psychics in my house, _period._"

"Understandable," the Caterpillar said before he felt Paneece take his hand.

"If we're going to be mates, even temporarily," Paneece sighed. "I might as well abide by that 'Guide of Mating Rituals' I found in my room." She smirked. "You left that there, didn't you?"

"It was leftover from when I took Skullene," The Caterpillar replied. "You actually read it?"

"I needed something to do," She muttered.

Xxx

"Well mah Tallest, the mission has been accomplished," Rik stated as he sat before the image of Envon in his Captain's chair. "Turns out the D1 was Zim of all people, and he's packin' a lot of knowledge your empire could put to use, and some handy mutants. Best of all he has a _freed_ slave," He winked at Zim, who was nursing a black eye. "Who could help y'all open up some badly needed connections with a species that's reverse engineered a good amount of Irken tech."

"Which species?" Envon asked, intrigued.

"Human," A new voice replied with a grunt. "Homo-Sapien."

She stepped out of the shadows of the dimmed bridge, her purple hair released from the helmet she had been wearing, and her right hand bruised at the knuckles from when she had punched Zim immediately upon awakening. Surprisingly she had been somewhat glad to skip puberty and go straight on to being a young adult-and would apparently stay that way for a long time thanks to Zim's augmentations. But she still intended to pay him back when Rik wasn't around to remind her that he needed the insane genius/numb skull moron alive for Tallest Envon.

"And I'd _really_ like to get home," Gaz Membrane crossed her arms. "And a shower."

"Perhaps I can arrange that," Envon nodded. "I had another mission I wanted you to take, but it seems to have...resolved itself. It concerned my sister Paneece...and Skullene."

"Skully? Ain't she dead?" Rik asked.

Envon's mouth curled into a smile. "Not so much Rik...but I owe you quite a bit for this. So to start there are those two rewards to choose from. One is fifty million monies."

"Oh hells yes!" Loe grinned. "We're so set for life!"

"Or you can forget the money and instead join a new task force I have been forming," Envon offered.

That killed the celebrations that were beginning.

"...task force?"

"Yes," Envon nodded. "The galaxy is more dangerous than ever Rikalo. I intend to do my best to set things right...but I need the best to help me with that...and who better than a man who just led a mission against not one but _two_ armadas and won? If you accept you will be given a base of operations, access to funding and resources-to be spent on missions when required...and a steady payment of 80 000 monies a year to all members of your team."

He leaned forward a bit. "Do you want to keep on the run, Rik? Or do you want to change things?"

"..." Rik stood up. "...why should I accept that offer?"

"Because you love her still," Envon replied. "And even with my promise to keep De Rien safe, if my empire were to collapse, she would be in danger again. She was supposed to have been killed millennium ago."

"...politician," Rik growled.

"Opportunist who sees that we both stand to gain from this," Envon corrected him. "I just had a crash course during my last days as an Admiral for Red."

"And how'd that happen?"

"...when I had to pull a few strings so I could get close enough to pull the trigger on Purple," Envon replied.

Everybody stared at the Tallest, astonished by what he had just confessed.

"What, did you think the Vortians managed to do it?" He smiled pleasantly. "Somebody had to do it, I just needed the right motivation. Seems ironic though, I killed him because I thought he took a part in Skullene's suicide...only to find that she's living cosily." He tilted his head. "I still want Red dead though Rik, and so do you. And we both know Shadow is the worst, and he'll never stop gunning for either of us or our families. So I ask you...will you help me bring them down?"

Rik sat back down, pondering the proposal. "...I want to know where De is first."

"Reasonable," Envon nodded. "I am uploading the coordinates to you. You can give me your answer after you get her back." His image vanished.

"Set a course, follow the coordinates he sent," Rik muttered. "We'll drop Zim and anybody else who doesn't need to come along off on the way to where ever it is. Envon has plenty of cruisers out in these parts."

"Indeed he does, especially since lots of pirates come from where we're heading," Elay nodded.

"And where's that?" BlackJack asked.

"...Purgatau," Elay replied.

Drosco groaned. "Gods and goddesses save me...the one place I never wanted to visit again."

Xxx

End of Chapter

If anybody has an idea for an Omake they would like to see posted, feel free to give a summary of your idea in a review.


	16. Reconciliation Arc, Purgatau

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

De Rien (MetalCoffeCup)

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 for his assistance.

Oh and also I have an important announcement. Recently I along with MetalCoffeCup and ZimsMostLoyalServant have begun the construction of an OCT of our own, FACTORY13. It is not yet open, and won't be for a while due to Blood Sport's third season being on. It's bad business to open an OCT when such a popular one with 60-80 writers and artists in it is operating. /so far we don't have an opening date, but we are working to get it set up.

Xxx

"_Do I have to keep going?" Rik asked as he looked down at the naked, bloodied form of De Rien. "You can make it simple and tell me where your husband is."_

"_I don't know..." De whimpered. "I don't know I don't know I don't know...please..."_

_For a moment, as the alternate Rik looked down at her, a brief glimpse of pity or remorse could be seen in his expression. Turning away, he pulled his gloves back on. "Very well...you've shown me that you have absolutely no idea where your husband is. If you're that bad of a wife then it ain't my place to judge."_

_He pulled his coat back on, and then glanced towards Fren and Ouri, who were thankfully unconscious over in the only bed in the room. He had not forced them to watch what he did to their mother. He had not raped her of course, he still held himself above some actions, but until he had been sure that she was unaware of Rik's (her husband) location he had been forced to follow his traditional interrogation methods._

"_But know this...if you ever see him again, I'll know it," He knelt by her and placed one hand on her head, a red glow emanating from his palm before he let go. "And then I'll be coming back to finish the job. So do make sure to warn him, darlin'." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek._

"_Thanks, I knew you'd understand." Then he left her, just like the Rik she knew._

Xxx

_**Poor De...life was not as easy for her as Rikalo would have hoped. You see De isn't supposed to be alive, at least in the eyes of the empire. She was a part of an experiment over 15 000 years ago, to research defective Irkens in development. But...she was launched into space by a rather paranoid and ruthless queen, who thought that her husband, the leader of the 'defective population' had mated with her. Several decades ago she crashed and was awakened, and later met our dear hero Rik.**_

_**Let's just say that their relationship worked out a lot better than the one with Skloo. Rik became an average father with a lovely home and a couple of kids, one rescued from a 'defective smeetery' where he would have been killed and another born from De.**_

_**You might ask how I know this. How I know that for several years Rik never even so much as touched a gun? How I know that at night he would read both of his children bed time stories? Simple...I've always kept my eye on him, from day one.**_

_**I knew exactly what he is meant to do before he was even born.**_

_**And I know that he won't let his family go, no matter how he tries to act like he doesn't deserve one. Perhaps getting De Rien back into his life will be a big help. Oh well, I guess that the only thing to do is to watch and wait.**_

_**And since I haven't approached it for a bit, I shall tell you all this. This alternate Rik is one of those in the Puzzle of beings responsible for the current state of affairs. We have Envon, who slew Tallest Purple in a fit of rage and triggering civil strife within the empire. Then there is the Caterpillar, whose actions in his universe echoed across to this one in more ways than one. One of them is the third culprit: Alternate Rikalo (or Evil Rik if you prefer).**_

_**He may not be the hero of this story, but he can cause just as much damage as Rikalo-Prime can. And he has...oh yes he has.**_

Xxx

"Purgatau...the one place as bad as Murderworld," Vexus shuddered as he watched the Ranger pull away from the Irken cruiser-owned by Envon that most of the team had been dropped off on. He, Kay, Gaulia, Phela, Ginia, Drosco, Zafre, Zim, and Gaz had disembarked-with Gaz dragging Zim by the collar the whole way.

"You don't have to worry about them," Kay said, caught in the circle of Vexus' arm around her waist. "Rik has gone to Purgatau plenty of times."

"It is not him I worry for...but for this De Rien he seeks," Vexus replied as they turned away.

"And I know that De is a fighter also," They both jumped as they came face to face with Loe, who had also stayed behind on the insistence that he wanted to catch up with Kay after many decades apart. Kay had agreed to the request, and in return BlackJack had stayed on Rik's team longer to make up for the missing crew member. Janie had also stayed on the basis that Rik wanted to keep her safe from more Shadow Inquisitors until Velrik returned from the frontlines.

"You think they can survive that planet _and_ Shadow's spies?" Drosco asked. "I admit that Rikalo is an impressive fighter, more than impressive actually; and a grand leader, but he is not invincible."

"He might not be, but you don't know him like I do," Loe nodded. "And I know that when you fuck with him or his family, you're definitely going to need a replacement limb by the time he's done with you."

"...did he...?" Drosco looked at Loe's robotic arm.

"Oh don't be silly, I got this in an accident," Loe waved Drosco off with the metal limb. "I got it long before I joined Rik's team and not too long after the IDIOTs broke up."

"Where did Lok go anyways?" Kay asked, concerned for her father despite not having seen him for most of her life.

"...last I saw of him, he was taking the ship off to look for you over in the fringes of the empire where we thought the pirates had built a base of operations," Loe shook his head. "Poor guy...he was so obsessed with trying to find you. Sometimes I think he didn't sleep for days."

"Do you know where he is?" Vexus asked.

"Sorry...I haven't heard from him in over thirty five years." Loe sat down on a bench. "He's just...gone."

Xxx

Purgatau was once a part of the Old Empire, one of the furthest worlds from Irk itself. It had been designated as a prison planet at first because there was only one large city occupying the world; the rest of the planet made up of wastelands. The city itself was actually over 17 small ones that had expanded their borders until they had formed a single megalopolis with a combined population of over 3 billion. Those seventeen cities had been colonies made by the Planet Jackers in a more practical way to support their species before they took to using worlds to fuel their sun.

The Empire took it before Impending Doom even began.

The city was a wreck, crime rates soared higher and higher every year. The government only took care of itself, which was now done out of common sense since most people were likely to mug anybody with expensive belongings...or any belongings slightly valuable.

But if you had guns like Rik and his team did, and _lots_ of them to go with a reputation you could get away with daring to walk with a smile on your face.

Upon exiting the primary spaceport, Rik glanced at the data pad that he had transferred Envon's data to. He looked to BlackJack, Kronos and Lerak. Credaran, Elay and Janie had remained back on the ship-along with the one of the GESS-4s, which Zim had allowed Rik to keep on the basis that he did not need them anymore. The other one stood alongside them, growling menacingly at anybody who so much as looked at the group for more than a second.

"En-_Blue's_ data said that De is staying over in the Lower Districts, in Area 17." Rik said before crossing the thankfully unoccupied road to the other side of the street and glanced over the safety railing. The sight that met him showed a massive city of unbelievable proportions. He was perhaps five or six miles above the actual ground. At these heights most aliens were required to wear helmets or take time to get used to the thinner atmosphere, but Irkens were more accustomed to thinner atmospheres and capable of adapting to them with help from their PAKs.

There were countless air craft buzzing around, and massive spaceships departing or landing. It looked like utter chaos, but except for certain institutions Purgatau had danger per every square foot. Down in the Lower Districts it was worse. They were like the bottom of a crater, massive sky scrapers that touch the clouds would surround areas of smaller buildings that were actually normal sized. But the downside was that these normal structures were even worse to live in.

They were also where slavers prowled for an easy catch. There was no stereotyping it, the abductions happened every day, and idiots kept on coming to Purgatau where they were grabbed. The slavers win every single day...

And Rik's wife was down there in the middle of it. Could she even be on Purgatau anymore? The data was fresh; maybe she had frightened off anybody who thought of taking her, or had some help.

"We're in the Upper Districts of Area 17," Lerak informed the group after Rik returned to them. "The Lower Districts are north of here."

"Are you all looking to be somewhere?" A voice made them turn to see an Irken standing outside of a Taxi ship.

"The Taxi Services are one of the few trustworthy businesses on this planet," BlackJack whispered. "Giving customers to slavers is bad business for them."

"You know this?" Kronos asked.

"Lived it, a driver tried to hand me over, and two more Taxi's came down," BlackJack explained as they walked over to the parked vehicle. "They have _chin guns_ on these things, deadly accurate too. Blew a hole through the driver's head and mowed down the other slavers...then they gave me a free ride."

"So the one thing that slavers, crime lords and drug dealers fear here...are _Taxi Drivers,_" Rik stared at BlackJack.

"Everybody fears and loves them all the same," She shrugged. "Be happy we found one this quickly. The sooner we get to the Lower Districts the quicker we can find your precious _wifey _and get the hell out of here."

"I try not to think about how much a Psychic will go for here," Kronos shuddered as Lerak spoke with the driver.

"You want to head to the Lower Districts? That'll be a quick and easy job!" The Irken grinned and climbed into the taxi. "Hop in!"

"Is it me, or is this just way too easy?" Kronos mumbled.

"So, what sends you all down there?" The Taxi Driver asked as they all settled into the back of the transport ship, which seemed to be more of a redesigned gunship than a simple Taxi.

"Looking for somebody," Kronos shrugged.

"Kill? Kidnap? Blackmail? Employ?" The Taxi Driver pressed as he took off.

Rik glared at the driver's seat. "Are all Taxi Drivers so talkative?"

"Well nobody goes down to the Lower Districts willingly unless they have no choice or they're looking for somebody," The Driver shrugged.

"Fine I'm lookin' for my damn wife," Rik snapped impatiently. "Now just drive the Taxi!"

"Wife..." The Taxi Driver looked ahead. "I hope you find her..." He smirked, and silently deactivated the listening device that had been hidden in his sleeve, recording every word from the conversation and transmitting it all to another unit.

Xxx

She was on her knees, a box set in front of her with a raggedy sign leaning against it. '_Monies please'_ was written on it, but the box only had a few coins in it, and the owner had only found them by looking through the dirt and muck of the market that morning. It was almost midnight now, and she didn't even have enough left for dinner...or breakfast for next day...or lunch.

But it was nothing new, she was hardly even aware of it anymore. She had barely been aware of anything after her last two reasons to hide walked out the door. They hadn't meant to hurt her...she knew that they had to leave, but it still hurt. They had visited until she wound up here...she hardly even remembered it; she had just left her house and gotten on a transport. She used her personal monies to go to many planets, visit as many bars and clubs as possible. None of it was for pleasure.

She had been searching until she woke up on Purgatau one morning, her monies gone and with only her clothes and staff. Her coat had been taken along with most of her other belongings, she assumed that she had dropped or lost them the previous night or she would have woken up naked or locked in a room...or both. Since then she had scraped a living with odd jobs, but she found herself constantly harassed by quite a few people who thought she was a pleasure drone-in some cases they didn't care whether or not she was. At other times they tried to sell her something, or buy her staff-which looked valuable.

Once somebody had tried to steal it, but she had responded with fear and anger fuelling her arms as she swung her staff and broke the thief's neck. It had been an accident, but now people knew not to mess with the 'Irken girl with black face tattoos'. They remembered her by the black tattoos under her eyes that looked like tear marks, most Irkens were not permitted Tattoos in most factions-and merely by a tradition. But those rules hadn't existed 15 000 years ago when she had a life far from all of this, from the rotting corpse of an older galaxy.

"Get out of here, the market's closed!" A foot connected with her side, and De Rien gasped, collapsing onto the ground and placing one hand over the sore area. She had gotten into a fight several hours ago and took a bad blow there, the ribs were still healing. Managing to pull herself up, she cast a vicious glare at one of the guards hired by the merchants who ran the small pathetic excuse for a marketplace. He backed off upon seeing her black 'tear mark tattoos', now realizing just who he had kicked.

He put one hand on the pistol resting in his belt, and De one on the staff that just barely stuck out of its pocket. Her eyes were narrowed at him with disgust and frustration, his own in an effort to look angry and only showing her that he was scared. He backed off, allowing her to pick up her box storm past him.

Along her way home, she realized that the side she had landed on had the only possession besides her staff to be saved. Reaching for the pocket, she produced a now stained picture of herself with her family. She was cradling Ouri, barely a month old in her arms while leaning into Rik, who had Fren up on his shoulders. She wore a white dress, and Rik wore casual 'civilian' clothes, dark red shirt with matching shorts. If one saw De with the picture, they would only recognize her from it by her tattoos.

"What happened to that life?" She whispered.

Xxx

Life had been hard on De Rien; that much was obvious. She had lost weight she couldn't afford to lose, her eyes had bags under them, and her once healthy vibrant skin had become pale and looked dried and cracked in some places. Her clothes were hanging off of her thin frame, the bulge of her staff all too visible on the outer side of her right pant leg.

"Hm...It doesn't look too bad though," Said one of his fellow Inquisito

"She looks like her hand my snap off if I so much as squeeze it," He replied, watching De from a roof top. The exterior lights still operated in this Lower District, somehow, allowing them a clear view from their shaded hiding spot.

"Can we stop admiring her now?" The third of their number growled, more focused on his mission than the rest of them.

He grinned at the displeasure of the Third, and judging from the round of soft laughter the Second and Fourth shared his amusement. "Very well brother...you are right, we have a job to do. You all know your positions and tasks?"

"You and I follow," The Second said eagerly.

"I will cut her off," The Fourth added.

"And I will be here to save your asses when you spend too much time having fun," The Third grumbled. "Now get going, the Master wants Rikalo brought to him alive. Bring the woman too; she might serve to make him...obedient."

"With pleasure," The four Inquisitors of Tallest Shadows cut their radio links.

The Third, who was crouched in an 8 story apartment building, looked over his shoulder at the original occupant of the building. It was an Irken like him, but all of its teeth had been torn out viciously, along with the tips of its fingers and toes. Its tongue had to go too so he didn't go shouting any warnings or calls for help. By the time he was done doing the 'necessary' things he had done some more damage to the poor Irken, who by then had been going into shock.

After the Inquisitor grew bored with the Irken, flesh of the victim's torso had been peeled back and sliced into ribbons that dragged down to the floors, stained a sick mix of green and red. An hour of poking and examining the Squeedlyspooch yielded a unique result which eliminated any guilt that the Inquisitor had from killing the Irken. He had a _second_ organ, one different from the Squeedlyspooch. He was a _Nizhan (_Reversed) Irken, one who by improbably odds had begun to redevelop the multi-organ system Irkens once possessed before the genetic engineering that led to the Squeedlyspooch. It wasn't even important, an organ the equivalent of an appendix. Such organs appeared towards the last days of the use of smeeteries, perhaps in the last generation before the destruction of the smeeteries and the Old Empire.

But a Nizhan was a danger to Irken society as a whole regardless of whatever organ they developed. This was why the Shadow Empire was feared, every Irken was thoroughly examined for such flaws. Any found were killed without question. If a Shadow Irken met such a defective, they were to attack and kill them on sight. It was an entire empire dedicated to a powerful leader's word.

An empire that would not stop in the face of anything short of being utterly neutralized in terms of warfare. And he was proud to serve it, even if it meant that he had to hurt an innocent woman like De Rien.

Xxx

Settlement A1 was abuzz with celebration when the Caterpillar returned with Paneece..._and_ Skullene and her son. Skullene had gone to stay with Paneece on Envon's orders, as the Tallest had said he would meet them there once the Caterpillar arranged a secure transport method for the Tallest. Rine found many staring at him, but when several reached out to touch him he almost whipped out a pistol before his mother gently told him not to hurt anybody. He was forced to bear hundreds of people examining him-a perfectly normal and naturally born Irken born from two other Irkens.

"I am glad that you have decided to help us, Paneece," Tak, the Caterpillar's wife confessed as she and several servants led the group to their bed rooms. "And more so that you hold no grudge for our first encounter, Skullene."

"We all do stupid things when we're desperate enough," Skullene shrugged. "I was just desperate enough to escape." She did not allow the servants to carry her pack, and neither would Rine.

"All parts of the settlement will be open to you," The Caterpillar said. "And Paneece, we may begin mating at a time of your choosing."

"That's rather forward for a first date," Rine joked. "And you're asking that in front of your own wife?"

Tak shrugged. "I have always understood that we must do what we have to, even if it means sleeping with another woman, or in my peanut's case, several dozen over a long period of time."

"Honeeeey!" The Caterpillar whined.

"Aw...peanut's your pet name?" Paneece giggled. "That's cute. But anyways I think we might as well just do it tonight...it's as good a time as any."

"Excellent," The Caterpillar bowed to her. "You have the gratitude of my whole empire."

"The smeetery technology will be more than enough," Paneece replied, blushing a bit as the other servants and even Tak bowed before her.

"And Tallest Envon shall have it once he arrives," The Caterpillar straightened up. "I admit I was not keen on keeping it, but Tak persuaded me that it would be better if we keep it in case we had no other alternative."

"Your brother will be brought here tomorrow," Tak opened the door to a room with a _large_ bed. "You and my husband may share this room, and it will be yours for as long as you wish."

"Looks comfy," Paneece nodded, stepping in with Skullene and Rine.

"Well if you are asking somebody to carry a smeet that may be the salvation of our entire empire, then you should at least make them comfortable." The Caterpillar replied as he slithered over to the windows and pulled the drapes aside.

"I have that dinner you requested, sir," A voice with a familiar southern belle to it said as a red eyed Irken woman stepped into the room, followed by a red eyed male. Both of them were...rather tall.

"Tenn? Invader Tenn?" Skullene stared at them both. "And is that...no way...Skoodge?"

"Skullene!" They both grinned, recognizing their colleague from the Invader Division. Setting trays of food on a nearby table, they rushed forward and hugged Skullene, now almost exactly the same height as her if not a bit taller.

"What are you two doing here?" Skullene asked.

"After I finally conquered Meekroob, Red wanted to shuffle me over to be a Breeding Drone," Tenn spat her tongue out. "Apparently I inherited a bit of DNA from one of the volunteers for your mother's project."

"Mother? What are you talking about?" Skullene paled.

"Aw relax Skullene!" Skoodge patted her on the back. "The Caterpillar told us everything! We know Miyuki was your mom and Splorchamheimer was your dad...which by the way is _really_ cool."

"Skoodge was thinkin' of heading back to the empire at first," Tenn continued.

Skoodge crossed his arms and frowned. "But I knew people would ask questions if I came back very tall all of a sudden, so I stayed here! This is a part time job; the Caterpillar's looking to get me a job outside the settlement that'll let me help expand his empire!"

"We didn't know your sister had been here until we got back from a supply run," Tenn admitted. "Sorry that you got dragged here Panny, if we knew we'd have visited at least."

Paneece looked down, blushing deeper. "Its fine guys, seriously."

"Well if that was fine, the next few months are gonna rock!" Skoodge declared. "We'll be taking care of you when you're...you know, _loaded._" He snapped a salute. "I shall not fail m'lady!"

Paneece couldn't help but giggle at Skoodge's attitude. "Now I feel safe against any threat."

And at lot more at ease with staying in Settlement A1 now that she had some friends along with her sister and nephew with her.

Xxx

"There she is..." The First Inquisitor chuckled as he and the Second followed De, keeping a safe distance. "Are you in position?"

"Yes, brother, and awaiting your signal," The Fourth Inquisitor replied.

"Hurry it up," The Third Inquisitor grunted. "I want to make this fast."

"The grab will be fast...but her time with us will be extremely long," The First whispered.

"Do you think about anything beyond your own genitals?"

"Besides the mission? Not really."

"I'm ahead of her, she's coming towards me." The Fourth reported.

"Let us make ourselves known then, brothers." The First hissed as he and the Second Inquisitor hurried along. "Let us see her squirm."

Xxx

There were three of them following her, De's paranoia allowed her to figure that much out. They had been ever since she had been on her way out of the market, the first appearing from behind one of the meat stalls as she left the Lower Market Area. Another kept on popping up here and there where she walked. They made no effort to hide themselves, they wanted De Rien to see them and panic. But she wouldn't...she wouldn't!

Inhaling slowly, De unconsciously placed one hand near the pocket on the thigh area of her pant leg where her fighting-staff was folded and hidden. If it came to a fight, could she even hope to win? She hadn't fought in so long...why did they want her? Were they slavers? Did she even look good enough for the sex ring anymore?

One of them was almost within arm's reach of her now; his steps were louder than all others near her. It was another attempt to make her panic, to make her run and begin the chase...but she couldn't, not on their terms. They had a plan...she needed to throw that plan off and engage them on her own playing field.

"Seen your husband around...De Rien?" Her new 'shadow' whispered to her.

Xxx

End of Chapter

I know that I dumped a lot of characters. But their parts are far from over! I just wanted to spread things out and not have like 20 people in the same place at the same time.

**TRANSLATION LIST**

**Nizhan=Reversed (Reverse=Nizhak, Reversal=Nizhakar)**


	17. Reconciliation Arc, Reunions

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_Do you remember her?" The gun in his hand made its target too frightened to reply. "Answer me! Do, you, remember, her?"_

"_Y-y-yes,"_

"_Say it!"_

"_I-I remember her!" The Irken whimpered, tears already beginning to pour down his cheeks as he sat on his knees before the his captor. The pistol was hot enough that he could feel the heat from the barrel. It had been fired at his four guards, who lay dead nearby._

"_And you remember what you did to her then?" The shooter demanded, "What you made her do?"_

"_Well why do you care about her at all? What did she mean to you?" The Irken sputtered. "She was just some stupid defective whor-"_

_DOW!_

_Tallest Purple's whole body stiffened, and he collapsed, a hole in his head. _

"_She meant everything to me you scum," Envon hissed, tears of rage spilling out as he looked down at the corpse of his former leader. "__**EVERYTHING.**__"_

Xxx

_**I thought I'd just give you a pretty look at how it happened. You can see that I was not lying or exaggerating when I told you that Envon was out for blood. But if you hit him right where it hurts there isn't anything he won't do to get back at you. Red had luckily been off planet when Envon made his move, or he too would be dead...not that that would be bad of course.**_

_**Now, as you remember, De Rien was being stalked by the Inquisitors, and now must confront them...nobody wants to miss that.**_

_**Now read!**_

Xxx

De stepped away from the First Inquisitor faster than she meant to, bracing for what she could already tell would be a fight, "Sorry, but I haven't seen hide or hair of him since he left me high and dry years ago."

The Irken who had spoken now towered over her, looking every bit as deadly as De thought. What was more disturbing was that he had metal components to his skin taking up most of his lower jaw, specifically on the right side. The metal plating shifted a bit, showing the inside of his neck and spinal cord at the area before it vanished under the collar oh his coat. His hands were made of metal also, with thin fingers with razor edge tips that clicked as they touched one another randomly, as though he were fiddling with them. His lips slowly drew back over teeth that must have been altered through an operation, as they were all too much like that of Invader Hellion-whom De had the misfortune of meeting decades ago before her marriage to Rik.

In short, they were big, sharp, and made his smile look demented, "Are you quite certain of that? Because we have it on good authority that your _hubby_ has been rather active lately, popping up where he shouldn't be while causing lots of trouble for our master and his colleagues."

The Fourth slowly drew a curved dagger. The sight of it made curious bystanders back away or outright flee. Nobody wanted to cross a Shadow Inquisitor, "And do you know what he told me when I drove him to this district? Something important, something he never would have revealed if he knew just _what_ we are going to do to you before tonight is over."

De whipped her staff out swung it once, making the Fourth lean back to avoid getting his lower jaw knocked off. "Don't come near me! It already stinks enough around here."

Ignoring her demand, the Fourth Inquisitor whispered. "He told me he was looking for his _wife._...now before that we knew you were close to him, but we hadn't an idea that things were _that_ serious between you two...all the better for us in the end."

De gasped, feeling a sharp pain on her right arm before she swung her staff wildly to bat away the arm of the Second Inquisitor, whose blade gleamed with her blood now. He licked the drops off, eyes gleaming. "Good...you bleed for us...now you will _scream_ for us."

Her grip tightened on the staff in her grasp fearfully, but refused to show any of that fear on her face. She was determined not to let him know he was getting to her. Her eyes narrowed, "I'm not going to scream for you. Not ever." She moved into a defensive stance, waiting for the Shadow Inquisitors' next move.

"Oh...we have a fighter here," The First said before all three of them let out a simultaneous breath...and then there it was, space bending around the three of them, making the background distort. It always happened where they went and it was nauseating. De staggered, her lungs refusing to work as their power seemingly stunned her. The First reached forward and dragged the tip of his knife across her left cheek, drawing blood with the lightest touch.

"Will you scream for me now...little one?" The Inquisitor asked.

"N-n-" She couldn't form a proper word, so she did the next best thing and spat in his face. Snarling, he backhanded De so hard that she collapsed to her knees, her head swimming. The Fourth dragged her to her feet and held her.

Kicking her staff away, the leader slowly held his knife out, tracing the tip along De Rien's throat. "Now...when your husband arrives...I might just forget myself and cut you a big smile right here for him...from ear to ear-"

DOW!

A single shot tore through the Inquisitor's ribs, entering through the right and exiting out the left side. He snarled and spun, as did his companions. The shooter, who wore a sand coloured and hooded cloak over themselves ducked back into cover around the street corner as aliens scattered.

"It's him!" The First hissed. "Grab him-"

DOWDOWDOWDOW! Four more shots tore through him, but he seemed to just shrug them off.

The shooter paused, lowering the rifle they held. Were these Inquisitors getting stronger each time another one was sent to fight? As the Inquisitors charged her, BlackJack was momentarily forced to glance away by a red light in her eyes, having the sense to duck back into cover before a solid projectile shot through where she had been standing. It would have incinerated her judging from how it tore the car it struck in half. Then the shell detonated after it hit the ground, kicking up a dust cloud that blocked the view of the scope that the Third Inquisitor had on his rifle.

With a sigh, he ejected the spent casing and looked down at the large, rather primitive rifle. "Well, gotta give humans credit, they sure know how to kill one another as much as any Irken."

Back down on the ground, BlackJack fired several more shots at the Inquisitors, only slowing them down each time she scored a hit. The Fourth Inquisitor stayed by De when she tried to flee, swinging his knife at her leg. With the velocity of the swing and the strength of the blade he would have cut clean through her limb, but she brought her staff down in time to block the attack. Moving her left hand near the top of her staff, she swung the lower edge up and clubbed the taller Irken across the face with it. BlackJack's rifle overheated, forcing her to flee.

"Guys, seriously, some reinforcements wouldn't be missed!" She hissed, ripping the hood off of her head and darting away from the Inquisitors just as the Second leaped around the corner and rushed after her. The First was about to give chase, but Kronos, who had teleported from across the street to a second floor balcony fired his pistol down and caught the Inquisitor three times.

With a feral shriek, the First locked onto Kronos. His red eyes now had a pair of narrow black pupils that gave him a primal appearance. Leaping up, he landed at Kronos' position with a single leap and grabbed the psychic by the throat. He threw Kronos off of the balcony and leaped down after him. With one fist crackling with energy, he jammed it downwards. Kronos saw the danger just before he hit the ground and left the Inquisitor to make a deep crater in the street by teleporting at the last second.

Then he landed on top of the Inquisitor, who grabbed him as he tried to loop an arm around his neck and swung him downwards into the ground face first. Planting a foot on the side of Kronos' head, the First began to slowly press down. Kronos groaned in pain, unable to focus enough to teleport out of danger...

But Lerak came to his rescue, leaping down into the crate and jamming all four of his PAK legs through the Inquisitor, who lifted his foot from Kronos and turned to fight Lerak. He managed to land a blow to Lerak's sternum, but Lerak used his PAK legs efficiently, cutting shallow yet noticeable wounds while dancing around the stronger Irken. "Kronos get your ass up and fight!"

Climbing to his feet, Kronos grabbed the heaviest rock he could carry and teleported above the Inquisitor. Dropping the rock, he returned to the edge of the crater as the rock landed on the Inquisitor's right shoulder, which dislocated with a 'snap!' However he merely grinned and gripped the arm and moved it back into position. Both combatants saw the bones shifting under flesh once the Inquisitor tore a bit of his coat and shirt to show them. They could also see thanks to some of the metal plates shifting away and letting them see two snapped ends of a bone reconnect.

"...Ew," Lerak swallowed.

"We need a new plan," Kronos helped Lerak climb back up to normal ground, "Fast."

"Tell me something I _don't_ know." Lerak herded the hybrid back as the Inquisitor leaped out of the crater and landed in a crouched position in front of them.

"We're about to die?"

"I already knew that!"

Xxx

De repeatedly struck the Fourth Inquisitor, ducking out of range of his claws. Twisting, she moved under his raised arm and jammed the inferior (bottom) tip of her staff into the back of his left knee. As he staggered forward, carried by his own momentum she swung her weapon down over his head. Putting one hand up, he felt the swelling area and sighed as faced her. "If we didn't need you alive, you would be _dead_ by now."

"Good thing we don't need _you_ alive then," The calm, confident tone made De stop in mid swing and the Inquisitor turn to the left before three canisters landed and shot smoke up into the air.

The Third Inquisitor growled as his view of the whole street was blocked. "I can't see a thing now. Has the target entered the area?"

"Oh yes...he's here," The Fourth grinned as _he _stepped into the open.

"And you're dead," Rik raised his gun as the Inquisitor knelt in preparation to lunge.

A single shot hit the Inquisitor in the center of his chest. It staggered him and made him gasp-as wounds to the vital organs seemed to be more effective. This gave Rik time to draw his second pistol and fire several more shots into the Irken, who staggered backwards towards De. Shaking off the shock of seeing her estranged husband, De hit the Inquisitor in the back of his knees again. Rik stepped forward and continued to pour lasers into the slowly dying Irken.

Scrambling to react, the Inquisitor shoved De away and staggered forward. Rik dropped down and snapped his right leg up while leaning back. His foot struck the Inquisitor in the chin. De leaped up and swung downwards, her staff hitting the back of his neck at the same time that Rik kicked him. With a 'crack' the Inquisitor went limp, his neck bent backwards in an unnatural angle.

Standing up, Rik holstered both of his guns. He felt De Rien's eyes on him and opened his mouth to speak when he was suddenly shoved roughly. De shot past him, letting him catch a glimpse of her face...

She looked _scared._

"De! Wait!" Rik called after her, straightening up and rushing after her, "De!"

She wasn't listening. Over the decades De Rien's perception of things had become distorted thanks to a combination of her own mental health, a series of drugs either willingly or unwillingly injected into her and nightmares. She thought this was just another, that at any second her husband would leave again, or lash out at her. Somehow, along the way on her galactic search for him she had come to the conclusion that _she_ was at fault for him leaving in the first place.

And no part of her wished to stay around to talk things over like a reasonable person. Sliding her folded staff back into the pocket on her pant leg, De dashed through alleys and crowds on her way back to the raggedy abandoned building that she among many others called home. She ducked in through the front entrance, confident that she had left...whatever she had just seen far behind her now. She ducked her head as several occupants glanced up in curiosity and pushed aside the ragged curtain that served as a door to her room.

She had one of the few good rooms in the whole building, meaning she had one that had four walls, a floor and a roof. It was cold, but after a while under the collected sheets she would hardly notice. But her sheets were gone now, along with most of her possessions-almost all of which were trash anyways. Somebody actually had the nerve to steal from her!

Balling her hands into fists, she bit her lower lip and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth before somebody else stepped in. She whipped her staff out and spun. "Leave me _alone!_"

A hand caught her wrists, and wrestled the staff from her grasp. She looked up into those ruby eyes, and froze when Rik leaned down to her height.

"De..." He whispered gently. "It's me..._Rik._"

She shook her head in denial, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to get her hands free. "Not real, not real, not real! Get out of my room!" She tried to shove him out, but Rik barely even flinched. Eventually De's struggles began to cease as she was reduced to crying.

Why wouldn't this nightmare just end already? Why was her own mind playing nasty tricks on her like this, using her husband's image against her? She went limp, mumbling 'Not real' over and over in an attempt to wake herself up from this nightmare...

And then she felt him kiss her. Her eyes shot open as his warmth spread to her from the arms that held her up and the chest she was now leaning on. Her arms came to life and snaked up his front, placing her hands on his shoulders to support her as he slowly pulled away.

"...now you tell me that wasn't real," Rikalo-_her husband_ smiled down at her.

"Rik...? You...you're real..." Her eyelids began to flutter. "You're real."

She collapsed in his arms. Rik held her close to his chest, cradling her as she shivered and twitched. She was ice cold, and the thin fabric of her clothing was soaked to begin with. She needed some serious medical attention, but he couldn't do it here.

"Elay," Rik contacted her through his PAK communicator. "Get the Ranger in the air, shoot anything that gets in your way. I have De, and she needs help; _lots of it._"

"I'll do my best, but the others are still handling those Inquisitors you left them to fight,"

Xxx

"Oh great, Rik gets the girl and runs off!" Lerak pulled himself up, after being beaten down for the umpteenth time by the First Inquisitor. "Why does that seem so familiar?"

"You tell me, you've been with him longer!" Kronos shouted as he weaved and ducked to avoid being snatched by the Inquisitor. Teleporting back, he helped Lerak up. "What do we do? This guy is shrugging off everything we hit him with!"

"Improvise,"

"Which means?"

"_Fight dirty!_" Lerak shoved Kronos away as the Inquisitor leaped forward and landed in front of him. He leaned back out of range of a horizontal slice of the Inquisitor's claw and then leaned forward, head butting him and then tugging on his antennae as Kronos reappeared next to him. "Hit him!"

As Lerak forced the Inquisitor down, Kronos swung upwards with his right fist and snapped the Inquisitor's head back. But then he began to buck and snarl wildly, pulling back. Lerak didn't let go of the antennae, and ended up being the target of the Inquisitor's fury. Two fists buried themselves into his stomach, doubling him over. Then he was grabbed under the arms, and the Inquisitor's right leg snapped up at what should have been an impossible angle. It hit him in the chin so hard that he flew onto his back, and the Inquisitor's leg was angled straight up before he slowly lowered it back down.

Lerak was undeniably unconscious now. Kronos swallowed, backing away as the Inquisitor set his sights on him.

"You're next..." He grinned.

Xxx

BlackJack lured the Second Inquisitor into a small restaurant, which was quickly emptied as she was forced to drop her inoperable rifle and engage the Inquisitor in hand to hand combat. Luckily this one was the smallest of the four, and in his fit of rage seemed to be relying on biting BlackJack, who never gave him a chance. Her arms were like blurs of black as she struck him back and forth with clenched fists that formed swelling bruises on the knuckles.

Her last blow, a right hook staggered the Inquisitor and left him leaning to the right. She kicked him in the back of his left knee so he fell lower, and then grabbed the sides of his head with both hands. She slammed him into a table edge-and these were made of metal and bolted down into the floor. It left a noticeable dent in the material.

Throwing him back onto the floor, she rushed for the back of the restaurant and snatched a stack of plates. Turning, she swung them down as the Inquisitor came after her, shrugging off her previous attack. Nothing she did seemed to do more than stagger him despite how he was more comparable to the first Inquisitor she had encountered, the one whom Rik had killed with one shot on Murderworld. The plates shattered, and two or three pieces stuck out of the top of the Irken's head as he hissed up at her. He grabbed her leg and bit into the flesh as BlackJack went for another weapon.

She choked back her scream and stomped down on the side of his face; disconnecting him from her leg along with a good bit of her flesh as a bloody pile stuff in his mouth. She kicked him in the chin next, knocking him onto his back again. Hauling him up, BlackJack head butted him once and went for a repeat, but he grabbed her neck and swung her off her feet, landing her on a table. He straddled her waist and struck her with his elbow, then pressing the same one down onto her neck.

BlackJack slowly pushed one hand between the Inquisitor's arm and her throat. It relieved some of the pressure, but she still found it hard to breath. Rolling to the left and right, she built up more strength as she managed to breathe in more clearly. Finally she rolled right off with the Inquisitor and grabbed him by the neck as he tried to push her away with his feet. She slipped one foot between his legs and pressed down on his sensitive region. He groaned in pain, but then that seemingly endless pain tolerance kicked in and he snarled, trying to bite off her face.

Removing one arm, she punched him so hard that his head snapped to the side. She managed to change positions and climb to her feet, throwing her opponent against the wall, then into a table edge. Then, with a roar she finally heaved the Irken off of the ground and out the front window, shattering the glass. Gasping for breath, BlackJack leaned against the second dented table and slowly regained her strength.

Roaring, the Inquisitor broke through the wall below the window-and the window sill itself and charged across the restaurant towards her. Every step left an indent in the floor surrounded by cracks, and every table was snapped off of its stand as though they were as strong as a twig. BlackJack raised her gun and fired, but he didn't slow at all.

He lunged, going right for her throat as she sighed.

"Shit."

Xxx

"Skully!"

Skullene groaned as she heard rushed footsteps coming closer from behind. Several other Irkens glanced up in confusion as they watched the speaker practically shoot across the room towards Skullene, who sat across a table from her son. They had been playing Poker, a game from a world known as Earth, which the Caterpillar seemed quite taken with.

"Grim," She sighed.

Rine only offered his mother a smile. "Go meet the family maneeme, just remember to introduce me later."

Suddenly Skullene was lifted off of her seat by a pair of powerful arms and held tightly against a chest covered by a dark blue fabric over some light battle armour. Looking up, she saw one blue eye and one red eye looking down at her from a face that she had rarely seen grin-so seeing her brother Grimrair smile was like Tallest Red offering to open the door for her and bowing at the waist or escorting her onto a chair.

"Grim," She managed a weak smile as her brother nearly crushed her against his chest. "Long time no see, big brother."

"Skully," Grim leaned down, kissing her forehead and once again nearly suffocating her against the poncho that their mother had made for him. If anybody in the family cared more about what happened to the others, it was Grim despite how he hid it.

During the last days of the Old Empire he had been operating as a personal hit man for the Tallest after his invasion was completed. He had slaughtered an entire Vortian Resistance cell that had acquired information about the Renaissance Project several months before Purple's assassination. Despite Red ordering him after Envon-or so she had heard Grim had quite obviously disobeyed that order considering the fact that he had most likely arrived as part of Envon's entourage.

He must have thought the same thing that Envon did, that the reason why her home was in flames was because her time in Painomania drove her to suicide. Even Loyalist Grim wouldn't choose the Empire if it caused the death of a family member...Skullene knew that much.

"It's okay Grim," She whispered when she felt him shake. He was crying and trying to hide it. She reached up and stroked his antennae back to soothe him. She wrapped both arms around his neck and rubbed his back.

"I-we all thought-" He gently pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders as though afraid she might vanish into thin air.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Grim," Skullene said.

His brow furrowed. "Skullene, I thought you were _dead_ for over thirty years!" His grip tightened a bit as nearby Irkens wisely stepped away to give the siblings some space. Rine remained silent, watching his uncle and mother patiently.

"You _faked_ your death, left us all to think that you had _died!_" Grim raised his voice. "How could you do that to us?"

Skullene inhaled calmly. "...I know what I did was selfish Grim. I wasn't in my right mind; to be precise I was frightened out of my mind and not thinking. But after I heard what had happened to Purple, and Envon staging a coupe, I only got more scared of revealing myself. I had...other responsibilities."

"To what? Who? Who is more important than family?" Grim demanded.

"...you just answered your own question," Skullene looked towards Rine. "Rine, dear...come and meet Uncle Grim, please."

As Rine stood up, Grim's jaw dropped. He paled as he took in Rine's features. He looked so similar to Skullene's, yet also to somebody else...

"Rizz..."

Rine swallowed. "Yes...Rizz is my biological father...but that is where the relation ends."

"He...he really managed to-"

"And...I was too scared to tell you all...I thought you would hate him for his father," Skullene sniffed. "Grim, Rine is a good Irken, I raised him well and I love him."

Grim looked between the two. His gaze softened. "...the sins of the father are never truly passed to the son. He is as much a part of our family as you or I."

Rine let out a breath of relief. "Thank you...Uncle."

"But...where is Panny?" Grim asked. "When I heard what was happening I was tempted to come in with an assault team, but..."

"She agreed to mate with the Caterpillar," Skullene nodded.

"Caterpillar?"

"That's his...title," Rine said carefully. "He's a nice guy, he went a little over the top but he learned his lesson and gave her the chance to decide. He also brought her to maneeme."

"Where is he right now?" Grim asked.

"With Paneece," Skullene looked away awkwardly. "Uh...fulfilling the terms of their deal."

"Oh dear GODS," Grim groaned. "Don't tell me that my youngest sister is being _deflowered_ the next time I ask for a location."

"No promises," Skullene muttered. "Where is Envon?"

"He's meeting with the Monarch, or...Tak as she calls herself," Grim said. "Odd, I think I know a girl named Tak, would have made a great Invader too."

"Well let's all go meet them," Skullene smiled. "I have decades of catching up to do, and I have a lot to make up to my family for."

Xxx

End of chapter!

And for reader consideration...

**THE OMAKE ADVENTURES OF RIK'N ZIM!**

**EPISODE TWO: APPROPRIATE RESPONSE, PART ONE**

Rik hummed as he polished one of his guns, when suddenly his phone rang. Picking it up, he answered. "Rikky's Whacking Services, you pick 'em we'll whack 'em."

"RIKALO! HELP!" Zim wailed. "Zim has been kidnapped! Abducted!"

Rik sighed. "Who did it?"

"Some fan girl!" Zim whimpered. "She is forcing Zim to do _demeaning_ work! And made him wear a stupid frilly _human_ dress!"

Rik rolled his eyes. "The old French maid style; never thought I'd hear that one again." He paused, looking thoughtful. "At least not after that one time De and I-errrr...never mind that. Why don't you call somebody else to save you?"

"Zim tried!"

"Envon?"

"Refused."

"Elay?"

"Refused."

"Lerak?"

"Tried, he got caught too."

"_She's making me wear a dress!_" Lerak bawled in the background.

"Loe?"

"He tried too, also caught."

"Kay?"

"Caught."

"Skoodge?"

"Caught."

"Tenn?"

"Caught."

"Vexus?"

"He'll take too long!"

Rik groaned, knowing that he was running out of excuses to not save him. "Wait, if you're all there and there's just one fan girl, why don't you just gang up on her yourself?"

"We tried! She is powerful; she holds a power like that of _the Carlos!_"

"...so basically you're all big sissies who won't even try," Rik pinched the area between his eyes.

"She's coming back! She was heading out to find Lard-Nar!"

"Alright, alright," Rik got up. "I'll take appropriate measures to secure your release, Zim. Just gimmee a bit." He hung up and dropped the phone. "...you couldn't have given me a heads up?" He looked at Elay and Envon, who were lounging on his couch.

"We thought we'd let you get it yourself," Envon shrugged.

"So by appropriate measures we assume you mean that you're going to go busting in, guns blazing, and kick ass?" Elay glanced at him, looking amused.

"Is there any other way?"

"You could be the big man and offer yourself in exchange."

"You know black and white look terrible on me," Rik checked his gun and holstered it. "Screw that, I'm goin' in my own way."

"We'll be here, cheering you on," Envon lazily raised one arm as Rik stormed out. "...five bucks says he gives up and doesn't try."

"He never lets a job go."

"It isn't a job."

"Still doesn't let go," Elay shrugged. "Despite how much he hates Zim, he'll help him...that midget owes him like a million monies by now."


	18. Reconciliation Arc, Losses

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_The whole 67__th__ Battle Fleet," Red raged as he paced back and forth on the command deck of the Massive. "You're telling me the whole damn fleet sided with that-that traitor?"_

"_Yes, my Tallest," Eder replied with a nod as he followed the Tallest's progress with his eyes. "And a good deal of the lower castes has followed, along with nearly forty percent of our Invaders. It seems his promises have been fulfilled and many are now flocking to him for a better life. All in all, nearly ten percent of the Empire and a quarter of the Armada have joined him."_

"_Then we will find that bastard," Red hissed. "We will hunt him and all who follow him to the ends of this galaxy until their rebellion is destroyed!"_

"_It may be too late for that, my Tallest," Eder shut his eyes and calmly inhaled, the perfect picture of a calm and disciplined officer. "Vort and all of its colonies have been taken by this 'Blue Faction'."_

"_And what of Admiral Envon? Where the hell is he? He should be commanding the 67__th__ Fleet and making sure they remain loyal to me?"_

"_My resources tell me that this Tallest Blue killed him and took over," Eder shrugged. "Envon was a fine Admiral, no doubt; maybe if he survived he might have become an even better co-Tallest one day."_

"_I don't care, he failed in his objective to uphold this empire's law," Red sat in his throne-now just one throne instead of being positioned next to Purple's, which had been removed. "Our objective is to eliminate this Blue."_

"_If you recall my Tallest, the 67__th__ Battle Fleet was our most combat effective section of the Armada, and one of the few with the majority of its strength still intact," Eder looked out the forward canopy. "Most of our other fleets are occupied finishing invasions, putting down rebellions and counter attacks, and defending our outer planets."_

"_Then what do we have available?"_

"_Just the primary armada, and small elements of several other battle groups,"_

_Red knew that the primary Armada at its current strength could not defeat the 67__th__ in battle without reinforcements. Envon had drilled and trained millions of soldiers into an effective fighting force that was now turned against the empire they had once served. "What the hell has happened to us all? We were all united under one rule..."_

"_And it was a matter of time before somebody got sick of you," Eder mumbled quietly enough neither that Red nor anybody else heard him as he left without being dismissed. Red didn't notice._

Xxx

_**Rik is reunited with his precious lover. Skullene is reunited with her precious family. And as for Red, you are probably asking. Well with how things look he might be united with his 'heterosexual life partner' via a bullet to the face. But things aren't all as swell as one might like, they have a habit of changing suddenly.**_

_**They did for Shang Yis. Remember him? The original Emperor, titled 'Rik'?**_

_**His conquest went well at first also. Within three years he conquered most of the continent that his empire formed on. At the time there was no description for his faction, he was just the leader and everybody below him followed. They knew that he was powerful on his own, and that he was one of their own, a slave. He was freeing them all...**_

_**But when he fought, people saw him in a different light. After he slaughtered a squadron of enemy troops, his own men backed away in terror at the sight of their leader drenched in blood. He was more primal than a civil leader, but above being a barbarian. Now he had to invade factions on other continents, separated by Irk's oceans-yes it once had oceans before most of the planet became one large city.**_

_**For that, he needed to expand from a simple army to a navy and an air force. And he had to consolidate his power before he thought of invasion. So two more years of his life went down the drain in fending off pirate raids and invasions from smaller nations, all the while accepting millions of refugees and immigrants to improve his under populated empire. Then, twenty six months and four days after he finally established his empire, he found an upper hand.**_

_**Orbital bombardments, created by scientists acquired from the larger factions. They allowed Rik's forces to neutralize smaller factions before one of his soldiers so much as set foot in the battle field, and destroyed enemy ships and defences. At first Rik only had several satellites to conduct this new warfare with, so progress was still slow. And he did not wish for his troops to rely too much on these orbital guns either.**_

_**So his plan to invade his primary foe, led by 'King Crayma' was so complex and controversial that few believe it would work...aside from any involved. Rik gathered one hundred men and women, a single company of infantry regulars and personally trained them in all forms of warfare. Another three years gone by, nearing the end of the first decade of his endless war and Rik turned the surviving seventy two soldiers into a fighting force envied by many.**_

_**All seventy two were deployed as one into Crayma's territory, not to distract or delay the war effort but to end it. Rik's primary army handled distracting Crayma's forces on the front lines while seventy six men and women infiltrated the capital...and eliminated Crayma and his advisors. They forced Crayma's wife to surrender the nation to Rik. Fifty one of those soldiers returned alive and victorious.**_

_**When asked if he would ever use the strategy again, Rik said 'I'll probably never do it again, but if I must then I will not broadcast my desperation to the enemy. If I do, it would be all too obvious."**_

Xxx

BlackJack snarled as she rushed for her opponent. She leaped onto a table and then snapped her leg out in a drop kick that struck the Inquisitor in the neck. The force behind it would have broken an ordinary Irken's neck, but it just knocked him down instead. He was up, rolling backwards and bouncing to his feet with an ecstatic grin. "I've never had this much fun from one person before! Keep it comin' toots!"

"Gladly!" BlackJack launched a devastating barrage against the Inquisitor, who literally stood there and took it. After pushing him back against the front door of the restaurant, BlackJack swung a lighting fast haymaker that sent him crashing backwards through the glass. She leaped after him and straddled his chest, pounding on his skull now.

But then he caught her by the wrist, his bruises literally fading before her eyes as he sneered up at her. "That's how it's done, but now you've done enough venting for me...now you'll do what that pretty purple eyed one wouldn't do and _beg_ for me."

BlackJack grimaced in disgust, about to make a response when she felt the pressure on her wrist. Suddenly her arm was wrenched to the side, and she was on her back. Then the Inquisitor flipped her onto her front, still gripping her arm.

Before she could even process what he was doing, she felt searing agony shoot up from her right arm. The pain blinded her, and the wail she let out was heard for miles in every direction.

"BlackJack!" Kronos glanced up from his own fight and teleported out of range of his opponent, reappearing by BlackJack and the Second Inquisitor. He had literally broken the bone in her arm; it stuck out through the flesh. BlackJack was still screaming, unable to cope with the unimaginable pain that she was experiencing. Tears were pouring down her face despite how she tried to hold them; she had never had her femur _snapped in half_ before.

Kronos threw himself against the Second Inquisitor with all his might, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The movement made him drop BlackJack's shattered arm, gaining only another scream from her before Kronos teleported away with the Second Inquisitor. They reappeared on one of the taller building several blocks away, the momentum of Kronos' charge taking them both to the ground. Quickly releasing the Inquisitor, Kronos rolled away and teleported just as the Shadow Irken turned on his side and swung one clenched hand down at him. If it had struck, it would have caved in his rib cage, but instead it broke a hole in the roof.

Kronos reappeared by BlackJack, who was lying on her side with her injured arm hanging limply. He saw the white of the bone sticking out through a breach in the skin. The Inquisitor's supernatural strength had broken it like a twig.

"Hang on," Kronos whispered as he held her by her good arm-she still groaned in pain when he lifted her. "I'll get you back to the ship."

"**Not!**"

Kronos looked up as the First Inquisitor began to crackle with energy. A cloud of black smog began to form around him, tendrils of the gas coiling and twisting around him as he raised his hands-

SCHLUCK!

He growled, his back arching as he was run through from behind by Lerak, who held an improvised spear made from the tip of one of his PAK legs tied to a pole. He looked to Kronos. "What are you waiting for? Get her out of here!"

The Inquisitor spun, tearing the spear from Lerak's grasp and grabbing the Irken by the neck. He forced him to his knees, slowly squeezing the life out of him.

"L-Lerak!"

"_Go...now...!_" Lerak slowly back the sleeve of his uniform, revealing the Irken issue self destruct button.

Kronos realized what Lerak intended to do, and had no time to do anything but teleport away with BlackJack. Lerak, now pressed back into the ground, placed his left hand on the self destruct button...

And then he blew himself and the First Inquisitor to hell.

Xxx

"Are we there yet?"

"YES NOW SHUT UP!" Ginia hissed, getting out of her seat as the ship finally docked.

"Finally," Gaz rolled her eyes. "If one of you didn't kill him, I'd have done it myself." The cyborg girl got up, unbuckling herself from her seat and following the four Irkens out of the cockpit.

"Well we've arrived, so nobody has to die," Phela said calmly, trying to be the voice of reason.

The exterior airlock door opened, and they all ducked through.

"This is the research station that Envon has reserved for you, Zim." Gaulia said as she and her sisters escorted Zim and Gaz through the airlock tunnel connecting their small ship to the massive station in orbit over a gas giant. "It has all of the resources required to construct a proper smeetery, or so we assume."

"Hm! Zim shall tell you every single flaw and scold for every missing component!" Zim nodded.

"And your transport vessel shall be through here in several days, Gaz." Phela stopped at the interior door and held one hand to the scanner.

_Access denied._

"Good, when I get back I'm having myself the biggest pizza-"

"Wait," Phela raised one arm and stepped back from the door. "The security lock is engaged, I can't get in."

"Let's use the manual override," Gaulia opened a panel next to the scanner.

"Can't somebody just let us in?" Zim asked. "There are others here, correct?"

"There was a skeleton crew stationed here to prepare the station for your arrival and check for any design flaws," Ginia informed Zim while Gaulia worked at the circuits. "That was their frigate we saw on the far side of the docking ring on our way in."

"Well why didn't anybody hail us?"

"This station is near the border of Crimson Territory Zim, they have to keep silent," Ginia knelt next to Gaulia, monitoring her progress. "They're just being careful."

"I've got it!" Gaulia stood up as a 'hiss' came from the door as it split open.

"_Welcome to Smeetery Station Alpha 1,"_ A synthesized male voice said as the lights on the far side flicked on. "_Please be advised, this station is currently in a late transition stage of lockdown._"

"Lockdown," Phela wondered aloud, "What could have triggered that?"

Then she stepped on something and looked down...

At the body of an Irken, his skin shrivelled and turned gray. His hands were bloodied, and there were scratches in the floor near where he had obviously been clawing at the door to get out. Phela knelt and turned him over...

His eye sockets were empty, his mouth interior turned black entirely. A stink wafted up from him, making Phela back up with her hands over her mouth. Zim squeaked in fright and hid behind the four women.

"_Manual override accepted, lockdown lifted,"_ The voice continued. "_Do enjoy yourself and follow safety protocol. We have not had a work place incident in seven days._"

"...back on the ship," Gaulia looked back at the group. "_Now._"

"Wait, my radar has movement!" Phela sucked in a breath. "Up ahead!"

As she spoke, the lights further up the corridor past the reception room shut off. They caught a flicker of movement from within the cover of darkness. Slowly, the lights began to turn off one by one as the unknown entity advanced further and further.

"Back to the ship!" Gaulia raised her pistol, joined by her sisters.

Zim, all too glad to obey instructions this time ran back towards the other end of the tunnel. But the door slammed shut, and the security lockdown reactivated. "Gaulia-Soldier, how do you override the security lock?"

"Rip open the panel and grab the wires connecting to the sensor!" Gaulia instructed, remaining calm as the entity in the dark grew closer, more lights shutting off ahead of it. They could see more of its general shape now, and it was only getting _bigger_ as it got closer.

The final light before the reception room turned off, and suddenly shaped seemed to sprout from the darkness and spread across the walls and ceiling...like a pair of reaching hands encompassing the whole room.

"W-what is this thing?" Phela whimpered.

"I have the door open!" Zim shouted.

"Get back! Now!" Gaulia tugged Phela back, but something shot out of the darkness and grabbed the black eyed Irken around the waist. She screamed as it tugged at her, but Ginia and Gaulia grabbed their sister and tugged back. At first they were losing, but then Gaz calmly grabbed Phela and tore her out of the entity's grasp, throwing her down the tunnel.

Ginia snapped her pistol up and fired into the black barrier that replaced the reception room. "We have to get out of here!" The light of her lasers died the moment they crossed over the threshold, and something _laughed_ at her.

Then she gasped, looking down...and saw something sticking into her stomach. "G-gaulia...?"

She and her sister's eyes met as Ginia's healthy green skin began to wrinkle and sag.

"GINIA!" Gaulia fired into the appendage, which tore itself out of Ginia in a fountain of blood and vanished as Ginia collapsed to the ground. Gaulia dragged her back, Phela desperately firing her pistol as the darkness advanced into the airlock tunnel now.

"GET THE ENGINES STARTED!" Gaulia shrieked, hoping Zim and Gaz heard her.

She and Phela pulled Ginia through the door, but just as it began to shut a limb shot under it. It was long, boney, with flesh that was stretched over the skeleton tipped with an oversized claw for a hand. It grabbed Ginia, and before she could even scream it pulled her under the door and out of sight. It shut, and Ginia's shriek could be heard behind it.

"GINIA!" Phela tried to open the door, but by then Zim had already disconnected from the station and the emergency lock activated. "No! We have to go back! That thing has our sister!"

"Phela!" Gaulia grasped Phela's arms. "...there's nothing we can do for her now but find help."

"B-b-but she...I..." Phela fell to her knees, her head in her hands. "It took her because she was protecting me...it's my fault...oh Ginia..."

Knowing that she didn't have time to reason with Phela, Gaulia walked up to the cockpit where a very pale Zim was piloting the ship away from Smeetery Station A1. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped with a yelp. "It's alright Zim...I'll take over."

Zim got out of the seat, but fell over as he tried to walk away. He was shivering, his teeth chattering. "Th-th-that thing was there for Zim...I know it...it was waiting for me."

"And it got my sister," Gaulia whispered. "Lamenting on what happened won't change it. We have to contact Envon and get something to fight that thing. It obviously had a measure of psychokinetic power if it was controlling the flow of energy, and expanding that...field around it. So a Vortex Disruptor should level the playing field."

"That thing..." Gaz, who seemed the most calm besides Gaulia was looking out a nearby view port. "...It was laughing..." She opened one eye fully. "Even I wasn't _that_ messed up."

Xxx

Kronos had managed to return BlackJack to the Ranger after teleporting repeatedly and as far as he could. The effort exhausted him, but BlackJack was in the infirmary and Elay was operating to mend the snapped bone in her arm. Once the two bones were positioned it would take time for Elay to bond the two ends together. Even after that BlackJack wouldn't be firing a gun for several days at least.

"We took out two Inquisitors at the very least," Kronos said to Credaran, who stood with him and Janie as they watched Elay work. "There was another one I was fighting myself, and one that seemed to be providing sniper cover for the rest."

"These Inquisitors only seem to get smarter every time," Credaran observed. "We should get Rik back here as soon as possible. Where did he go?"

"He took De to a secure location in the Lower District, he couldn't risk moving her in plain sight," Janie, who had been using the radio to communicate with Rik answered. "He says that he's going to run a medical check up to see just what's been injected into De for the past few months. Whatever she's had, it's impaired her judgement severely."

"Man, the way this De person sounds, she's really...dependant on Rik," Credaran said.

"She seemed fine enough last time I saw her," Elay said without looking up from the unconscious BlackJack's arm. "A little meek and too silent for her own good, but she was a good balance for Rik's..._impulsive_ nature."

"Impulsive is putting it mildly." Kronos growled. "Lerak is _dead,_ because we came here to rescue Rik's little girlfriend-"

Credaran snarled, silencing the Irken. "You would do the same for the ones whom you love, hypocrite, so keep your mouth shut before I rip your tongue out and sew your lips shut!" The threats of the Veniran sufficiently made Kronos keep his mouth shut. A moment later the psychic felt a wave of guilt wash over him as Credaran's words hit home.

If it were his mother in danger, he would have gone to her rescue immediately regardless of the danger.

"You...are right," He sighed. "I don't have any right to criticize Rik for helping De Rien."

"We'll be picking them up as soon as Rik send out a signal," Janie pulled up a seat and sat herself down. "Until then we'd better get comfy, because we're not going anywhere until Elay unlocks the flight controls, and she's not doing that until Rik calls."

Xxx

De Rien whimpered, rolling from side to side on the soft mattress...

Wait a second, soft mattress?

She sat up, looking around the room erratically. While not anywhere near being a five star hotel, it was far better than her little one room home. It was dry against the rain, it was warm, and the bed was comfy...she actually snuggled into it a bit before realizing that she was naked. Her face flushed a deep green colour as she looked for her clothes. But the ragged and soaked garments were nowhere to be seen.

However, resting on the nightstand was a familiar outfit...

A pair of black boots and matching pants, a sleeveless shirt-again black and gloves, and to go over it was a long grey coat that was long enough to reach her knees, and dark grey shoulder guards with spikes.

It was the outfit that had followed her through her 15000 year stasis sleep and many battles. She had left it at her home long before she went in search of Rik. She had actually forgotten where she put it-she had tried to look for it and failed. But...how would he have gotten his hands on it?

Her staff was atop the pile of clothes, so she grabbed that first and slid it under her covers before going for the one piece undergarment that most female Irkens wore. She slid into it and zipped it up, feeling a little more secure with something covering her and her weapon next to her.

The last thing that came to mind was...her husband...but Rik left her, he was never coming back. Why would he? All he would find was some dried out husk of the woman whom he loved once. No, he was gone and she was just crazy...

The door opened, and De lied back down, clutching the staff tightly as she squeezed her eyes shut. The footsteps came close to her, stopping short...perhaps just out of range of the full range of her staff.

"I put the staff on top of the pile for a reason, darlin'," That voice said. "Can we talk?"

"No..." De shook her head, whimpering as she curled in on herself. "Leave me alone...you're just in my head...just in my head..."

She felt a hand on her head, and despite how she had planned to attack, she did nothing. The hand gently rubbed the base of her antennae, and she began to relax against her will.

"De Rien," Rik rarely called her by her full name, usually using his pet name for her, or just calling her 'De'. "De Rien, look at me."

Against her will, her head turned and looked up at the speaker. Red eyes stared back down at her, and it all came rushing back to her: just one thought, that this was all real and not a dream.

"Rik..." She whispered.

"Yeah darlin'," Rik nodded, his eyes watering as he smiled warmly, embracing her. "I'm back...and I ain't leaving again." She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, as if he was about to be pulled away from her all over again like in her nightmares. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a sob that she choked down before she could start bawling against his shirt.

No amount of drugs or dementia could make her forget this moment, or deny the truth.

Her husband was back, he came back for her.

Just like she always wanted.

Xxx

Paneece was blushing furiously as she lied in bed with a snoring Caterpillar. Needless to say the mating had been...interesting. She had a hard time imagining how the Caterpillar did it with his body structure, but in the end he hadn't lied when he said that she would enjoy it. Then again the first time she told him that he hadn't been offering her a choice.

If she wasn't bearing a smeet for him after that, she didn't know what would make her pregnant. Before the mating itself took place the Caterpillar ingested several fertility enhancers that were common in the Holy Irken Empire. He explained that even with fertile Irkens being brought in there was a difficulty in conceiving successfully, if at all with a member of his small empire. If she was right, they increased the chances of her impregnation by...perhaps just enough to have a normal smeet.

"_Two of light, both in dark,"_

The Caterpillar's voice made Paneece nearly jump out of bed. Straightening the covers, she looked over to the Caterpillar and saw his monocle covered eyes staring at her. No, he wasn't at her, but _through_ her.

"_Two of sin, both broken,"_ He continued, "_Two of a pair bear death's mark; two of a pair with old lives forsaken._"

"Caterpillar, what are you talking about?" Paneece nudged him, trying to awaken him from his trance.

"_Two in one, shadow undone; Two in one, vengeance lifted,_" He spoke faster, more urgent. "_Two in one, battle won; two in one, destiny shifted. Two in one, enemy and friend; two in one, one must end._"

"Caterpillar," Paneece shook him, "Caterpillar, wake up!"

Suddenly he stopped talking, seeming to see her now. "Paneece? Is something wrong?"

"You were...chanting or something," Paneece said.

"Chanting..." The Caterpillar's eyes widened as he slithered out of the bed. "Tell me everything I said, hurry!"

Paneece recalled what he had said-using fresh memory from her PAK to get it word for word. "Two of light, both in dark..."

"Corruption," The Caterpillar muttered, writing down everything she told him. "To be of light yet stand in the dark is to be corrupted."

"Two of sin, both broken," Paneece continued. "Two of a pair bear death's mark."

"Can't specify that first part yet, but the second one obviously means murder, death." The Caterpillar nodded. "Please, continue."

"Two of a pair with old lives forsaken,"

"Obvious enough what that one means,"

"Two in one, shadow undone; two in one, vengeance lifted," Paneece recited the final lines of the poem. "Two in one, battle won; two in one, destiny shifted. Two in one, enemy and friend; two in one, one must end."

"A full prophecy," The Caterpillar nodded. "I haven't had one since I came to this universe!"

"A prophecy, as in you just predicted something?" Paneece stared at the words that the Caterpillar had written on the wall of the bedroom.

"Yes," The Caterpillar nodded. "In my universe, the Cornerstone of Light would grant psychics visions of destiny. I had thought with my decisions causing the death of humanity he had abandoned me. But...it seems he has rather followed me to this world."

"So what does this prophecy mean?"

"A prophecy does not predict something small like what I'll have for lunch tomorrow," The Caterpillar said. "Unless I accidently steal a sandwich from a crank warlord who destroys my whole species for it...bad example, but you get the point. A prophecy has been put into play, and if I received it then obviously I shall have some part in it or had a part in it forming. And if you heard it...perhaps you were meant to for some reason."

He sat back on the edge of the bed, grabbing his robe while Paneece was already half dressed. "This is either good or bad, and judging from the rather gothic tone of the prophecy I'll assume it's mostly bad for the moment. I should tell Tak about this so she can gather what few psychics remain here to assist me." In an afterthought as he straightened his robe out, he wondered aloud. "Two in one...two in one...what could that mean?"

"I wonder that myself, _buddy,_"

The new voice made both Irkens stop and turn to the source, who stood at the door.

"Glad to see you found yourself a lady who can actually bare to lie down with an overgrown worm," The glare of the red eyes made Paneece freeze in place as she went for her pistol. "But now it's time we have a chat, the three of us...how about my place? It has a cozy cell."

The Caterpillar called upon his telekinesis to throw the bed at the intruder...but nothing happened.

"Disruptor field," The red eyed intruder said as he stepped into the light of the artificial moon beams. "I always came prepared, _Darithil._"

Paneece gasped as she saw him. He looked so familiar, a handsome Irken with normal antennae, no extraordinary features, powerful build; he wore what looked like a military uniform of some sort. Two thin scars passed over his left eye, slightly marring the attractive face.

"How about you introduce me to your newest mate," Rikalo 'Rik' of the Caterpillar's old universe smirked, "_Buddy?_"

Xxx

End of chapter

Now for reader consideration, you know it!

**THE OMAKE ADVENTURES OF RIK'N ZIM**

**EPISODE THREE: APPROPRIATE RESPONSE, PART TWO**

The fan girl, Maria cackled as she whipped the backs of the Irkens, all of whom wore French maid outfits regardless of gender. "Keep scrubbing! I want to be able to eat off of that floor, because you're going to be eating off it tonight!"

"Why won't Rik just show up already?" Tenn whimpered, wiping tears of pain from her eyes.

"Why didn't we try a better plan than bashing in the front door?" Skoodge wondered.

"Why didn't I install that lock on my room like I should have?" Lard-Nar, the newest addition and only Vortian in the group whined.

"Why don't you all stop whining and get back to work!" Maria snapped.

"Drop dead you miserable worm child!" Zim hissed, only to be whipped on the back again. "AH! Why must this be?"

Suddenly the nearest window shattered, and Rik leaped down into the room, guns in hand. Mara spun with a hiss, her whip coming around towards the gunslinger, who leaped onto the nearby coffee table and launched himself over the expensive leather sofa, landing behind it. The 'slaves' took cover as Rik and Maria faced off, whip vs. guns.

They both rushed for one another, weapons bared menacingly...

And wound up head butting one another, falling onto their backs. Leaping to their feet, leaving their weapons on the floor they took a stance.

"Kick her butt!" Tenn cheered.

"Yeah, kick his butt!" Skoodge shouted.

"Skoodge?"

"Somebody has to cheer for the other side," Skoodge shrugged. "Thought I might as well do it."

Rik and Maria let out a 'hai' as they spun and swung their right foot up...hitting each other in the ass at the same time. They fell over and rolled to their feet.

"Head butt!" Zim and Skoodge shouted at the same time.

They grabbed one another by the head and swung their skulls forward-

CONK!

"Oh!" They both groaned and released one another.

"Flying kick!"

They put distance between one another, leaped off of the nearest piece of furniture, and let out a battle cry as they flew through the air towards one another. Their feet collided with their opponent's jaw at the same time, and they collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Nipple pincher-"

Thud! Rik tossed a picture at Skoodge, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. "Shut it already!"

"Five minute break?" Maria asked.

"...yeah." Rik nodded. "But first I have to do something."

When Skoodge awoke, he was bound from head to toe in duct tape-with only his mouth uncovered, even then it had a cloth stuffed between his teeth so he couldn't talk. He was also tied to a chair...in a closet.

"Isn't this cruel?" Tenn asked from outside as Rik put away his duct tape away.

He shrugged. "It's the appropriate response, Tenn, it's the appropriate response."


	19. The Returned and the Lost

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

Volt (Invader-Leka)

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_I didn't think you'd join me," Envon said, looking out over New Irk, which had had taken as his capital planet after establishing his new empire. Behind him stood two Irkens, one of whom was skinny with red eyes and large claws for hands; the other was Grimrair._

"_Despite how you dislike me...I loved Skully too," Invader Hellion was pacing back and forth impatiently. "Now tell me where red is and let me at him! I'll swallow him whole!"_

"_We can't reach Red yet," Envon shook his head. "However, I have a long term plan."_

"_Define 'long term' for us then, brother," Grimrair said as he joined Envon on the balcony outside of his office._

"_We are still building a new empire Grim," Envon did not meet his brothers' gazes. "And others are forming out there. Each will have its own ideas, its own achievements...and while alone they are little threat, if Red were to take those territories back, he would be able to crush us. So for now we will maintain as little contact with the newly dubbed Crimson Empire as possible, and focus on smaller territories."_

_Leading his brothers back inside, he activated a projector built into his desk, showing a map of the known galaxy. It split the image up between the empires, highlighting captured planets and expanding based on estimated territorial domination patterns each Empire had. "Now, with any empire that spans whole planets, you could have hundreds of enemy soldiers being shipped in at any time to cut off supply lines or assault a planet. For all we know there could be an army of a million ready to invade this very planet."_

"_And just as father told us, the solution is to keep all of your enemy's resources in sight," Grim said. "He can't sneak up on you if you know where his army is before it even deploys."_

"_Which is why I won't be moving giant armies and fleets into a campaign against Red yet," Envon nodded, sitting down. "I will however position small units within his empire, discreetly deployed near the border by one of our Radiation Haulers on the usual dump. Among the crates that should be containing the leftover material from the power plants we captured here will be single ships, Voot Cruisers built to the specifications of the old Empire. They will each carry three operatives, and those three operatives will be given independent command except for when they contact me. Their objective is to scout out any of the Crimson Empire's military resources from its primary armada to planetary militia."_

_Hellion nodded. "Even I can see where this is going: Red will never make a move without having the element of surprise."_

"_And I won't give him it," Envon replied. "There's a reason why he relied on me for doing the more complicated jobs. When the Massive shows up all it has to do is blast away, I have to weaken the enemy defences so that oversized gun boat doesn't get blown apart by a high powered orbital station."_

_He looked to Hellion. "And Hellion...I know you want to go after Red, so I will give you that chance. I want you to be one of my resources inside of Red's territory...and if you ever get the chance to kill Red," He made a cutting motion across his neck._

_Hellion grinned. "...I think I finally started loving you just now, brother."_

"_Once he is dead, transfer his command codes to me. His forces will have no choice but to surrender," The Tallest Blue stood. "...I killed Purple for Skully...I would have killed Red for Skully too...but this was the wakeup call we needed. The Empire was dying to begin with, and it was dragging the whole galaxy down with it. We will bring Red down...and bring back the true empire that our parents ruled."_

_He turned back to the view of New Irk. "And kill anyone and anything that tries to stop us."_

Xxx

_**Decisive, intelligent, cold but not cruel...now that is a leader I'd like. Wouldn't you want one who will do exactly what he must without dancing around the topic? Now granted this is far different from the matters of your world, but still...**_

_**Rik was a good example. He did what he had to: conquer his whole species to save it from itself.**_

_**Soon whole nations fell to his growing army as older technologies were brought back and made more efficient, improved for this growing continental empire. Precisely 25 years after his fight for freedom began with the slaying of his master...Shang Yis ruled the entire planet. There was no denying who he truly was: he was Emperor of Irk, he was Rik.**_

_**The First Dynasty of the Irken Empire was the only one without a Tallest. Rik never had much of an heir...but he did have a prolonged life. The PAK was created another ten years later as Rik sought solutions to a variety of diseases and hostile conditions that threatened areas of his empire. It was estimated to have given him a full century in addition to his estimated lifetime of ninety years. This only gave him more and more time to improve upon it with help from his scientists, and create more wonders...**_

_**Fifty years after his freedom was earned through the death of his master, Rik colonized Irk's moon.**_

Xxx

"It used to be an old Veniran military ship," Rik explained as he and De sat huddle on the roof of the apartment complex he had moved her to. "It's not fancy but it has beds and power, and with Envon's incoming deal we'll have a lot more money coming in."

"You really went all out, didn't you?" De asked, snuggled against Rik's side under his coat.

"All for you darlin'," Rik glanced up and saw a light descending towards them, the familiar roar of engines growing louder. "Here she is!"

The Ranger did not even stop; Elay was instead opting for the Transport Beam to pick them up as she made a fly by. They had to make it quick; the government did not like ships flying over the Lower Districts.

De clung to Rik as she was broken down into her most basic components and reconstructed up in the middle of Rik's new ship. She opened her eyes as Rik lifted her off of the floor. "We're here darlin'."

His ship was a lot like the one they had met on, the Omni-Hunter. She had heard what happened to it, to Kay, the poor girl. Rik set her on her feet. "Let's go meet the crew," He showed her the way to the command deck where most of his crew was gathered.

"Welcome back boss," Credaran said, nodding as he looked at them both. "Mistress De Rien," He bowed, making De blush.

"Venirans treat the 'mate' of their leader like a queen," Rik whispered to her, receiving a nod as she looked to the other crew members. "Wait...where's Lerak?"

"Dead," Kronos said bluntly. "He blew himself up with one of the Inquisitors so I could get BlackJack out of there. She's injured and down in the medical bay, recovering."

"The bastard snapped her Humerus clean in half," Elay explained as she moved out of Rik's chair. "I managed to place the two ends together and repair the tissue damage. I just hope that the nanites I injected will help repair the break. Long bones just aren't supposed to be broken to this extent. I might have to consider just amputating it and replacing the whole limb with a cloned piece or a prosthetic."

"She won't be happy about that," Rik whispered.

"That's all you have to say?" Kronos demanded. "Lerak is _dead!_"

Rik's eyes narrowed. "...you think I don't know that?"

"I think you're more concerned about your mate than you are about any of us!" Kronos snarled. "Lerak bites the dust and you brush it off. BlackJack might need surgery, you brush that off too!"

"You're out of line!" Credaran growled, but Rik stopped him.

"...no, the boy's right," Rik nodded. "You're all my crew, not my property and I have to take better care of you, not throw you aside." He sat in his chair. "Computer, lock down Lerak's quarters. Elay, set a course for New Irk...we'll let him have a service there, Envon allows that much."

"About that...I sent a transmission to New Irk," Elay said. "...I got Invader Dev."

"Dev? You mean Miyuki's old bodyguard?" Rik stared at her, "How the hell did he get there? I thought he was with Red."

"Or so we thought," Elay shook her head, "Quite a few operators there backed him up on his story; Dev is a bona fide Captain in the Blue Empire. For a while he was spying for Envon until a week ago when he was ordered to hit a target and plant evidence on another faction. Now he's Envon's top Intelligence Officer."

"Great...so what did he tell you aside from his life story?"

"That Envon left New Irk several days ago, and that he would not be back for another week," Elay replied. "But he did call back reporting something about Paneece being kidnapped."

"That girl gets into more trouble than Skull-" Rik flinched, unaware that Skullene was alive yet. "...continue on towards New Irk," He stood back up. "De, meet the crew. Elay is my pilot and XO, Credaran's the Weapons Specialist, and Kronos there is our psychic. BlackJack is...an associate if the team, she works for Vexus."

"As in...The Crime lord?" De swallowed. "What kind of people have you been meeting with?"

"Lots of people as of late," Rik said. "Loe is also part of my team but he is absent at the moment due to...well...did you hear about Kay?"

"I did," De nodded. "She was such a sweet little smeet."

"She's all grown up and working for Vexus now, she's his personal hacker!" The look on De's face made Rik grin. "I ain't jokin' darlin', Kay's alive and well! She admitted it, she's got pink eyes and she has a knack for anything computerized or flying."

"My god...where was she for all those years?" De gaped.

"That's a story for Kay to tell, and trust me when I say you'll definitely meet her soon," Rik sighed. "Cute lil' smeetie grew up into a beautiful young woman. If you ask me, I have fifty monies on her being Vexus' mate."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because she was stickin' close to him at all times, no amount of money would make me cling to that guy," Rik chuckled. "But suppose you like the guy enough to put up with his intimidatin' stature and ruthless attitude...that would do the trick."

At that moment, Janie stepped onto the bridge. "Sorry, I was fixing my PAK's clock."

"Oh, De this is...Janie," Rik felt awkward introducing his wife to his former mistress. "Janie, this is my wife, De Rien."

"It's nice to meet you, De," Jane said-though from what Rik could see her smile was a little forced. It was hardly a secret to him that despite their relationship being a mistake, she harboured feelings for him-and vice versa.

Wait until he hold De that he had two kids with Janie.

Xxx

On the station where Zim's group had been attacked by the odd shadow beast, there was one life form aside from the odd being that had taken Ginia from her sisters. It was an Irken with pale green skin and yellow eyes. He wore a lab coat that had some chemical burns on it over a pair of what was the Irken equivalent of jeans and a black t shirt. His antennae literally ended in biohazard symbol shapes.

His name was Volt, one of the leading chemical engineers in the Blue Empire and the science equivalent of...and he was currently hiding under a table, shivering. He had managed to hide in there when that..._thing_ had appeared and started killing all of the scientists. Where ever it appeared systems would lose power, and weapons had no visible effect on it. The other members of the 20 person skeleton crew fell quickly to it until only Volt remained.

Earlier he heard shouts and more gun shots from the reception area, but that meant that the darkness was there too. He stayed in the sealed room, not willing to step out. Despite its invulnerability, if the room was sealed then it had no way of entering. A good security door could stop it, and Volt had sealed off nearly half of the station against it...but he wouldn't take the risk of it learning to use the vents-if it was small enough to fit through those.

Slowly standing up, the unfortunate chemist looked around the lab where only half a day before he had been hard at work on several minor projects to pass the time until their 'Chief Genetic Scientist' arrived. Supposedly this Irken had complete knowledge of the complex construction of a smeetery and how to grow a successful Irken smeet compatible with a PAK life support system. But Volt was certain that the 'expert' had been a part of the group that was attacked in the reception area...

So much for the Irken race, and all because of this one creature...

CRUNCH!

Volt squeaked as a shaft of light appeared from the door...a hole had been broken in it! Slowly the almost fluid black material began to seep into the room. The hands of shadow, large enough to swallow a ship and looking like the reaching claws of a beast or the extending legs of a spider slid over the walls and ceiling. Then a leg seemed to take one step through before the being squeezed through the impossibly small hole.

It stood up straight, looking like the pitch black outline of a humanoid being. It took a step towards Volt, its feet making no noise on the metal floor as the shadows began to close in on the frightened scientist.

"G-g-get away from me!" Volt cried, scrambling back. "_Get away from me!_"

His back hit the wall of the lab, and he curled up into the ball as many hands-or the shadows of hands reached from the shadows around him, down the wall or across the floor. He actually felt them tug on his clothes when the shadows appeared on him.

"Help me..." Volt whimpered, shutting his eyes. "Help..."

Then more light appeared the door opening-the lights in the hall now turned back on with the being fully in the room. Then a _hiss_ as a pair of lines of red light appeared next. The figure stopped, standing out against the light of the doorway and the newcomer who stood there. The hands reached for this figure, which wore a hood to cover its head and held two energy blades that curved. It swung the blades in a perfect form, the left blade following the right when it swung to the right and vice versa with the left.

The blades _sliced_ through the reaching limbs of darkness, and the creature recoiled with a shriek that sounded like many voices put together, all high pitched to the point where Volt had to grasp the ends of his antennae. The humanoid figure fled from the advancing swordsman, reaching the ventilation shaft and fleeing into it through the grate. As the last of the darkness followed it, the lights returned to the room.

Volt, still curled into a ball at the back of the room looked to his saviour. It wore black and clothing and armour along with brown cloth that covered its shoulders and upper arms, and another length of brown fabric secured to its waist that reached its knees. A matching brown hood covered its head. The red blades of energy faded in glow, revealing that they were just super heated blades of metal that retracted into a set of metallic gauntlets on the fighter's forearms.

"**Are you alright?**" The figure faced Volt, revealing a pitch black visor with three red lines running parallel through it. Its voice was filtered in a way that even its pronunciation was changed, making it thicker and throatier, giving it a bit of a croak.

"Y-y-yes..."

"**Did it touch you?**"

"Yeah, kinda..."

"**Yet you are missing nothing...you did not wither like the others did...an immunity,**" The being seemed to be talking more to itself than to Volt, who was standing up shakily. "**What is your name?**"

"_Volt..._" Volt swallowed, shivering as the armoured being slowly reached up and pushed back it's hood away from the helmet the enclosed its head. Then it tapped the sides at the same time, making the visor and helmet split into three segments that vanished into the collar of his armour. It was an Irken like himself who wore the armour, a purple eyed male who smiled kindly at him.

He offered Volt a hand. "How's about we get out of here? That thing won't go near you as long as I'm around."

Volt hesitantly took his hand and let the Irken lead him out of the room. "Who are you..?"

He looked back at volt with a toothy grin. "The name's Lok, Lok Hunter, at your service. Now we'd better go and get communications back up before the Blue Armada panics and blasts this station to dust. You're one lucky Irken Volt...you and the lovely lady I managed to save."

"Lady...?" Volt's answer came when he was escorted into a room by the mysterious Lok, the communications center...and a black eyed Irken lay on the table, covered by a sheet. She looked pale, her skin shrivelled a bit, but she was quickly recovering before his eyes.

"Take a seat," Lok offered. "I think it's time Ol' Envon and I chat face to face after so long."

Xxx

"What do you mean they're _gone?_" Skullene snarled, lifting Tak off of the ground by the collar of her dress. Several nearby Irkens tensed, ready to run to the defence of their queen, but Tak calmly waved them off. "I trusted you people and you're telling me somebody snuck in and _kidnapped_ my little sister? Is this some damn trick?"

"We have no reason to do this Skullene, your sister was no doubt already impregnated," Tak said. "And my husband gave his solemn vow that she would be free."

"Then how the hell would somebody even know where to find this place besides me?" Skullene demanded.

"Few would know if it outside of our settlement," Tak said, being set back on her feet. "And fewer who would have the motivation to do this. But with the capability to overcome our defences, defeat my husband and then sneak him and a rare blue eyed Irken out...would require nothing more than our former Champion's skill at infiltration and hidden sabotage."

"What do you mean?" Envon, who stood nearby with Grim, Tenn, and Skoodge asked.

"I believe that whoever did this disabled our sensors and scrambling fields while hiding that fact from our operators, and then teleported into the castle, and kidnapped my husband and your sister by using a Vortex disruptor field to disable all psychokinetic abilities. Our few other psychic Irkens powerful enough to detect such a change are usually at our surface outposts on watch. In the time it would take for the weaker ones to pick up on this _he_ then used a teleporter beacon to leave with them."

"How can you tell?" Grim raised one nonexistent eyebrow.

"Well for starters I can see the beacon on the ceiling," Tak pointed to a strange device with four prongs digging into the ceiling and a yellow crystal on it. "It's been used, the crystal would be red if it hadn't been used recently, and blue if it had been used to enter the room first. And as for the Disruptor theory...how else could one manage to take my husband? Though strong, he is better with his powers than he is at hand to hand combat."

"Who did you say could have done this?" Grim asked.

"...our old champion, in this universe you would know him as Rikalo, or Rik." Tak replied.

"Well...that's ironic," Envon muttered. "I hire Rik to work for me full time and his alternate goes and kidnaps my sister and soon to be newest ally."

He looked to the crystal. "Could we use it to trace where they went?"

"With time, yes," Tak nodded. "Get it down, and I will do my best."

"If only the version of you in this universe could be so nice," Grim muttered before deploying his PAK legs and scaling the walls to retrieve the device.

Xxx

"So what will stop him from merely breaking out of it?"

"We have a new method that will allow us to maintain the Disruption Field," Rik said as he walked alongside a tall figure. "An...acquirement from Meekroob's debris field, a rather interesting one if I might say so myself."

They entered a room where three prisoners were located. Two of them were on the floor, chained together by a single pair of manacles attaching their wrists. The third...was contained in a cylinder full of blue liquid that hid its form except for a blotch of dark within the fluids.

"Now all we have to do is wake our guests up," The Alternate Rikalo bent down and picked up a bucket of water. "I always hated this stuff back in the Ol' World; it's just as bad here only there's a lot more of it." He grinned. "Good thing I only hate it when I'm the one getting burned."

"Just get on with it," His companion groaned impatiently as Rik held the bucket up and then flung the contents forward onto one of the prisoners.

Xxx

Cliff-hanger ftw!

Now for reader consideration...

**THE OMAKE ADVENTURES OF RIK'N ZIM!**

**EPISODE FOUR: APPROPRIATE RESPONSE, PART THREE**

"Alright then you Clint Eastwood rip off!" Maria hissed. "I'll show you to take away attention from Zimmy in this story!"

"Heh, finally someone who admits that _Zim_ needs more screen time!" Zim, now in his old clothes-as were the other hostages said.

Rik's eyes narrowed as he and Maria faced off. "Alrighty, here it goes."

"Shouldn't we help?" Skoodge asked.

"Oh so now you're on my side?" Rik demanded.

"We can't help," Tenn said dramatically. "This is something Rik has to do alone."

Rik stopped in the middle of drawing his gun. "Uh...no it ain't actually."

"Oh, really? Okay then," In that moment the Irken hostages unfolded their PAK lasers and fired on a surprised Maria all at once alongside Rik. By the time they were done, the girl was reduced to a crisp.

"Wow...it was that easy?" Kay twitched. "We could have done that at any time!"

"I say again, you're all sissies who won't do a thing," Rik sighed, shaking his head.

"Well...we just murdered somebody, what do we do now?" Skoodge asked.

"Actually she isn't dead, just...badly burned," Kay said as she checked Maria's pulse.

"Hm...I have an idea," Rik snapped his fingers. "Get me a Regeneration Kit and one of her french maid outfits." He pulled a small device from his PAK. "And help me insert this into her _brain._"

**Bored french voice: Five minutes later.**

"Ah..." Tenn sighed in content as Maria-now in a maid outfit gave her a foot rub.

"Now this is what I call the appropriate response to a bat shit crazy fan girl kidnapping innocent characters," Rik, lounging on the comfy couch said.

"I call it poetic justice!" Skoodge said, snacking on all of Maria's extra delicious food with Zim.

"Either way, we can finally put this damn Omake to an end," Rik then pulled out a gun and aimed at you, the audience. "Now get the hell outta our crib."

He fired, and the screen went dark.


	20. Damnation Arc, Deep Into Hell

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_Mothman, do you know what you've done?" Dib knew that Darkbooty was aiming a gun at him from behind. Nearby technicians and pilots finally noticed their presence and backed away. So Dib was right, he did have a weapon after all. Only moments ago Kay, the little Irken girl he had saved had flown out and vanished into the void of space on a shuttle. If he was lucky, he'd either never see her again or he would see her under better circumstances._

"_I think I just saved my soul," He shrugged._

"_That alien was a vital part of our research! We could have been prepared for war against the empire decades in advance with it as a test subject!"_

"_She wasn't a test subject, she is a sentient being," Dib growled. "I realized that years ago, why can't you?"_

"_This isn't about debating who or what is sentient; it's about war damn it!" Darkbooty hissed. "A war that we're dedicating ourselves to because of everything you showed us! Because of what Zim did to us!"_

"_You know...I always told Zim I'd have him as a test subject one day..." Dib nodded. "I thought every Irken would end up on an autopsy table with me being the one to cut each and every one of them open. But when I look back...I'm disgusted with myself...I was a little boy who thought that murder and causing pain was 'cool' on the basis that it was okay if the victim wasn't human. Suddenly everything would be alright and I'd even be able to walk up to the pearly gates and shake god's hand as he tells me what a great job I did."_

_He turned to Darkbooty. "That's how you see things now, isn't it?"_

_He walked towards the old man, who waved the gun threateningly. "It's easy to kill off something as long as it's not part of your own species, isn't it? They don't matter at all, why should they? They're not a part of our world, they shouldn't even exist! That's what you think," His eyes narrowed as he took off and polished his glasses. "That's what they all think! Hell that's what I thought!"_

_He was so loud now that everybody in the hangar was rushing to investigate. Several security officers drew their weapons, aiming at Darkbooty._

"_We've done enough dirty work Darkbooty," Dib said. "We'll fight this war...and we'll win it. But at the end...we'll prove that we're better than the Irkens...that we don't have to be monsters to win...and hopefully you'll have died of natural causes by then."_

_DOW!_

_Dib held his shoulder and collapsed to his knees. He had been shot plenty of times over the past few years, his screaming was short lived, and he was back on his feet before the security officers even shot Darkbooty. The agent had looked startled, even afraid when he saw Dib rising, the rage in his eyes..._

_Then several 9mm bullets put an end to that._

"_Sir, are you alright?" A guard asked as he helped Dib stand. "Crazy old man, I can't believe he'd do that!"_

"_...looks like one prayer was answered," Dib mumbled, shuddering from the pain and how much blood was pouring out of his wound. "That guy had this coming to him." He glanced to the guards. "Dump the body out an airlock, and get me a medic. After that just return to your jobs...nobody will mention what happened here again or they'll be joining Darkbooty."_

Xxx

_**Ah, could this be? A look at humanity? Perish the thought, this is an all aliens story!**_

_**...**_

_**Oh wait, it isn't? My mistake.**_

_**Dib Membrane, the last person you would expect to become the hero to an alien. He was so determined to hate them as a child, did you notice that? But we all have to grow up eventually and acknowledge that the barrier between race and gender is an issue to be dealt with one at a time. One could argue that Irkens must be wiped out so that they do not wipe out other species...**_

_**But wouldn't the speaker be fulfilling the role of the Irkens? Have they not proven that they hold the same potential for death and destruction that the Irkens possess? They will have shown their true colours with that statement, just like Dib had shown his by doing something he never would have considered as a child.**_

_**So I say bravo to him, and Keep Reading to you!**_

Xxx

Paneece was splashed with pure H2O, making her wake up with a shriek of pain as steam came from her flesh, a hissing noise easily heard. She writhed for a moment, and then relaxed and curled in on herself, shaking until the pain faded. By then she noticed the shackle around her left wrist and a long chain leading from it...

To the Caterpillar's right hand. The leader of the Holy Irken Empire was beginning to come around, though he hadn't been splashed.

"Sorry about that, I missed." The speaker, who stood by the only door in the dimly lit room, did not sound apologetic. "So...Darithil, you finally found a woman willing to lay with you," The being spat on the floor once in disgust.

"Darithil...?" She looked at the Caterpillar.

"You thought his momma named him Caterpillar?" The being snickered, "Nah...all the taller ones get a fancy insect name. That's how it always was."

"My...how good to see you. Such a pleasant surprise," The Caterpillar hissed darkly, glaring at the being before them, "How sad that years away from your home universe have done absolutely nothing to improve your manners or sense of chivalry. Do you not have some pup you need to kick? Some orphanage you have to burn down? Or should I be flattered..."

The Caterpillar spat the word out like it was venom in his mouth. "_That you took time out of your busy schedule to come see me?_"

"Oh if anything you should be flattered...but not on my account," The being shook his head. "I'm just...along for the ride. When he told me that you enacted your last ditch plan to keep our pathetic little empire crawling along I just had to get involved."

"H-he?" Paneece stuttered. "Who are you?"

"Oh you know me...Panny," Said the being before he removed a hood he wore, revealing a familiar face with red eyes...

That had narrow black pupils in the center. "The name's Rik, Rikalo Rik."

Paneece paled, remembering the Caterpillar's story about this alternate version of Rik-and how he had appeared in their bedroom. This monster was nothing like Rik, who despite being a shameless pervert at least did the right thing. He did not have Rik's annoying smile, that drawl he intentionally added to his voice for times when he was messing around, or the amused look he always carried. His smiled was empty and false.

"If you want to know who 'he' is...let's say that when he found out that the sister of Tallest Envon was carryin' the spawn of that worm next to you...he decided we could kill two birds with one stone." Rik shrugged. "We worked together before, so we decided to once more." He looked over his shoulder. "Come on in."

A tall, imposing figure stepped into the room. His feet made no noise against the stone floor, the long coat he wore seemed to shift about on its own, and his skin was covered in veins of black...

"Lady Paneece...and Caterpillar," Tallest Shadow bowed. "Despite circumstances...I admit that I am honoured to have met you both." Surprisingly he seemed truly sincere, and sounded...sad when he spoke rather than arrogant. It was as though he did not want to be here, or doing this.

"But the game must end soon, Rikalo," Shadow looked down at Rik. "You can have your fun...but I want Lady Paneece's body intact."

"I don't see why you'd want to return her to Envon intact," Rik spat. "I'm gonna have to slice hero pen at some point for the smeet."

Shadow nodded. "I can handle that...even I am above desecrating the dead." His eyes narrowed. "But if you try to...do realize I kill for less."

He knelt before Paneece and Caterpillar. "I truly am sorry that events have conspired to make us enemies...but the Holy Irken Empire is a problem waiting to happen. In time I can neutralize the Smeeteries that you and Zim have contributed to building, but only sterilizing this wound will stop an infection from spreading." He stood. "If it means anything...I will make sure you are returned to your people too, Caterpillar."

The Caterpillar frowned slightly. "You attempt to come off as regretful of what you are doing. Somehow I doubt that working with one who has fallen so LOW-"

The Caterpillar's eyes went wide. "Wait...he said you had "worked together before"..." He murmured, thinking back, thinking of that being that had appeared before Rikalo, that being that had somehow given his Rikalo the power to do what he had done. "...you? YOU'RE the one responsible for Rikalo's change?" He whispered out. "...billions DIED because of him...billions of beautiful, innocent humans, millions of my people..."

The alternate Rikalo snorted and the Caterpillar hatefully glared at him. "You're pathetic, still crying over them."

"No. You're pathetic." Paneece growled out. "I know the whole story...and you've turned into something even worse than what you said the Caterpillar was! And you didn't do it out of "justice" or "mercy"! I KNOW people like you." She hissed. "You did it because you had a problem with your boss! You're a petty MONSTER."

"Revenge: The most worthless of causes," The Caterpillar agreed.

Shadow intervened in their argument before it could proceed further. "You're almost on the mark...I am not the one who gave him his power." He shook his head. "But I was there...I as good as let it happen."

He tilted his head. "And you should know...he and I have a similar history...we do things that we think are right...I only admit it when I realize they're wrong. But you...Caterpillar...he never would have been so vulnerable enough if it wasn't for you."

"What do you mean?"

"When did you think that locking up your best friend and torturing him was a way to get him on your side?" Shadow asked. "It wasn't...but it wasn't_ your_ idea, it was_ an_ idea that would further your goals, so you went along with it.

The Caterpillar blinked. "W-what are you talking about?"

"You'll see..." Shadow shut his eyes. "Before you die...you will see..._the true enemy._" With that, he left the cell, shutting the door behind him.

The Caterpillar was confused at first, and yet, somehow, he had sensed genuine honesty in what Shadow had said. What had he meant by "true enemy"? What did Rikalo mean when he said...?

The Caterpillar tried to call upon his telepathy, but found it to be still suppressed. It came as a surprise to him when Rik-using the telekinetic powers given to him by the Visitor in the Dark lifted both prisoners off of the ground. "H-how...?"

"Similar thing to a Disruptor Field, but...more accurate if you get what I mean," Rik turned them around to the cylinder filled with luminous blue liquid. "With our little friend in there, we can focus his own abilities to disable the powers of an individual rather than an area like a Disruptor Field would do." He had them face him again with a gesture of the hand. "Now...I'm gonna pay you back for all those years of pain you gave me...all those years of tears and humiliation you forced me through with that fake smile on your face."

He glanced at Paneece, who felt a pressure on all sides of her head that slowly turned into a headache. "And you're wrong, princess, it ain't about havin' a problem with my boss...it's about havin' a problem with the piece of shit who called himself my best friend for so long."

His scowl slowly turned upside down into a large grin. "You didn't mind making it painful for me, so I'll gladly return the favour in a more direct way. I like to give even your kind a chance at defending themselves."

The Caterpillar wasn't able to move, much less talk under Rikalo's telekinetic grip. The red eyed Irken slowly began to laugh, growing louder until he was cackling. "**ENJOY!**"

The room around them dissolved with Rikalo, whose laughter faded until they were left in a void. Shapes began to appear, filling up the background. A floor appeared beneath them, colours being added to it as they were dropped unceremoniously.

They were in the throne room of the Tallests' Palace on Irk...except it was different from the one Paneece had seen. Instead of multitudes of vending machines and bars, there was beautiful art lining the walls and ceiling. It was more welcoming than what Red and Purple had made, and the thrones were actual thrones instead of floating comfortable chairs.

"Wow..." Paneece stood up. "Was this your home?"

"Yes...the palace of the Holy Irken Empire when it was just the plain old Irken Empire," The Caterpillar nodded, straightening up. "But something looks off...the shadows." There were plenty of windows giving a clear view of the city, but any shadows in the throne room seemed...emphasized, pitch black against the colourful floors and walls. And they seemed to slowly but surely move, leaning towards them both.

"_Don't touch them,_" They both spun, looking for the source of the whisper that came so clear to them. "_Don't touch them, stay in the light._"

Paneece dragged the Caterpillar back from one such shadow near the thrones. The black puddles seemed to retract to their original position once the Irkens no longer stood close by. They both relaxed, leaning against the main doors.

"Paneece...I'm...I am so very, very sorry about all of this." The Caterpillar whispered sadly, covering his face with his hands. "Once again all seems spiralling out of my control despite my best intentions...I never wanted **any** of this to happen...and I never wanted another innocent to suffer because of something I did..." He sobbed and sobbed, sinking lower and lower, his antennae drooping over his head. "I am so, _so_ sorry..."

Paneece gently embraced the Caterpillar, letting him lean his head on her shoulder. "Sh...It's alright; we'll find a way out of this." She gently stroked his antennae back with one hand and rubbed his back with the other, trying to calm him down. "But listen...we won't be able to escape by crying," She made him look her in the eyes. "And we won't be able to save our child by doing that either. Whatever you did, you are a different person now. And _everybody_ deserves a second chance."

She helped him to straighten up. "Now come on...we have to get out of here."

Xxx

"So you want me to wait for their friends to show up?" Belthiad finished skinning the fruit in his hands and took a large juicy bite from it.

"That's the plan," Rik nodded, watching the Caterpillar and Paneece sleep. Soon they would be writhing, clawing their own eyes out as they tried to escape their nightmares. "I left a rather obvious trail that will allow them to reach this general location, just to make this interesting."

"Why?" Belthiad stared at the alternate Rikalo.

"...ever kill _three_ birds with one stone?" Rik asked rhetorically. "Tallest Envon won't stand aside when his sister has been kidnapped, and knowing Tak she'll tell him everything about me. So he'll come charging in, probably along with two or all three of his other siblings, then I can off all five of Miyuki's kids altogether. That'll make Red grateful and feel safe so then when he goes to retake all of the weaker territories at once, Shadow makes his move." He stretched. "Then people like you and I get to live in an empire that won't vaporize us for not being total cyborgs. Unlike Red, Shadow has a habit of fulfilling his deals."

"I like where this is going," Belthiad grinned. "So who's in the tank over there?"

"Let's just say that the Meekroobians have left us a rather powerful gift," Rik led Belthiad over to the tube. "And I make use of it in Shadow's name to deal with enemies of both myself and the Shadow Empire."

"What is it?"

"Take a look," Rik walked over to a control panel, and moments later the liquid within became clearer. Soon a form could be seen curled up into a ball with wires attached to the shoulders, head, back, thighs, biceps and forearms. It had two antennae like an Irken, but its skin was more of a blue shade rather than green.

"What...is that?"

"The Meekroobians' last plan," Rikalo chuckled. "They're a lot tougher in this universe, in the other one they were all 'sunshine and flowers and love', giving powers and cures to what the ones of this universe call 'lesser races'. In this one they wanted to create an organic weapon against the Irken race, something so strong that it could control space and time, made from Meekroobian energy laced into genetic material of several races...and I have it right here, locked away nice and tight..." He smiled. "I call him Gary."

"Gary?"

"He looks like a Gary," Rik shrugged.

"Sounds a little ordinary," Belthiad replied.

"Well what would you call him then, oh master of dramatic names?"

"...Frank."

"Seriously, that's your idea?"

"He looks like a Frank!"

"They've arrived," They both turned as Tallest Shadow walked back into the room. "Tallest Envon, the Monarch, Grimrair, Skullene and several others have entered this fortress in the lower levels. I have no sensors or patrols that deep to track them."

"Just like I planned," Rik rubbed his hands together. "I relocated the other teleporter crystal to down there after I came back here. I wanted to make this interesting."

"You will be _interested_ to know you can kill _four_ birds with one stone then," Shadow casually circled the tube containing the Meekroobian hybrid.

"It's spooky how you always hear things but aren't around," Belthiad crossed his arms.

"I'm good at it," Shadow stopped. "Rikalo, the one of this universe shall be coming soon. He has been told of the abduction, and a spy among Envon's ranks has informed me that Captain Dev received a transmission from Envon before he came here. He has managed to track us here and sent the coordinates to Rikalo to render assistance."

"And what of the research station that Zim was sent to?" Rik demanded, losing his confident smirk.

"My...associate has encountered unexpected resistance there," Shadow admitted. "He has been forced to leave the station or risk destruction."

"Damn it if Zim is allowed to begin his experiment then the Blue and Holy Empires will be repopulating like mad!" Rik growled.

"It is a temporary failure at best," Shadow shrugged. "The station can be destroyed, though by the time we manage to breach the fleet that now surrounds it they will have had time to move specimens and equipment. And Zim will have already copied and dispersed the data to other divisions of the empire. So...we will focus on eliminating Zim first, and only after Envon is dead."

"And let me guess, we're sending his body back to his people too?"

"It is the proper thing to do," Shadow shrugged. "I am an emperor, not a villain; I do what is in the interests of my people and encourage my Inquisitors to enjoy their duty so they perform it just as greatly...while I wage war with one hand I feed my people with the other." He stared at the Meekroobian hybrid. "But you...you wage war with one hand and feed yourself with the other...it is sad to see you fall like this Rikalo...I actually wept when _it_ gave you your power."

"Heh, you remind me of _him,_" Rik gestured with his head towards the Caterpillar. "Only difference is that you haven't betrayed me, yet you've been more secretive with me at the same time."

"That is who I am," Shadow turned. "It is what I have become over time...what will you become over time, Rikalo? Your journey is far from over."

"I'm fine the way I am."

"..." Shadow actually smiled. "I wasn't talking _to you." _He walked away. "What will _he_ become after he encounters you?"

Rik had no reply.

Xxx

"Loe spoke highly of you," Gaulia said as she sat next to the bed where Ginia had been moved to. On the other side of the bed, Phela gently brushed Ginia's antennae-well one antenna, the other one had snapped off as a result of her time with the shadow creature that had attacked them. "And I now think he was downplaying your description."

"I thought you'd be glorifying him if you told me he had a robot arm and tons of battle wounds," Lok chuckled, leaning against the wall next to the medical bay door. "Maybe he'll be dateable now, he was always too shy and lacking in attitude a long time ago."

"Where did you go anyways?" Volt asked. "I mean I heard of the IDIOTs when public knowledge about them became public, why'd you vanish?"

"...I lost a team member," Lok looked away.

"But Loe is still a-_ohhh..._" Volt nodded. "I see...who was he?"

"I thought you said the IDIOTs were public knowledge," Lok glanced at the chemist, vaguely annoyed and slightly wishing he had let him die-or at least get afflicted enough so that he wouldn't be on his feet and talking...

Oh wait, he was immune to that thing's touch, so that was out the window.

"_She_ was my _daughter,_" He said more harshly than he had intended. "Now _drop it!_"

Volt flinched, realizing he had gone over Lok's 'red line'. He muttered a quick apology and looked down. Lok's gaze softened. "...sorry about that, it's a touchy topic that I should have gotten over a long time ago."

Gaulia and Ginia exchanged a look. They knew that Kay was alive, but should they tell Lok? His appearance was suspicious at best, and he seemed to know about the creature that had attacked the station. Though grateful to him, they were not sure whether they could trust him.

But sadly Gaz was in the room, sitting silently at one end. Her hands had started fidgeting randomly, and when she was asked about it she stated that it was 'none of your business.' She looked up. "Do you mean that pink eyed girl that the geek with the metal arm got all teary eyed over?"

Lok stiffened, slowly turning towards Gaz. "...what did you just say?"

"That Kay girl, the one who wore that cloak and used that thing to make her voice sound different," Gaz leaned back on her chair. "The one working for that big oaf: Vexus."

Suddenly Lok grabbed her and lifted her off the ground, startling the human. "You'd better not be lying to me, human!" He shook her. "Was the Irken you saw really named Kay? Did she know Loe? Did she know _me_? _Tell me now!_"

Gaz shoved Lok back. "Geez, take a chill pill you spaz! _Yes,_ her name was _Kay_, she had _pink_ eyes, she knew who Loe is and she was following Vexus around like a lost puppy the whole time!"

"She's alive..." Lok whispered and turned away as the doors opene

"Zim has begun the smeetening!" The new arrival declared, pointing one arm straight in the air. "Soon this station shall be _crawling_ with annoying widdle bundles of _joy!_"

"Aww...we gonna have lots'a _babies!_" GIR cheered while Minimoose flew in circles overhead.

"Nyah!"

"Yes GIR, lots of babies, superior _Irken_ super babies!"

_**SUPER BABIES...**_

"...How did that just happen?" Ginia said, referring to the eerie chorus that followed Zim's exclamation.

"It's Zim," Gaz huffed. "Weird shit happens around him all the time, like say..._getting kidnapped and turned into a cyborg freak of nature!_" She glared venomously at Zim. "When these guys don't need you anymore, you are fucking _dead_!"

"The smeetening will require DNA samples," Zim explained, ignoring Gaz's threats. "A single Smeet requires the genetic material of dozens of Irkens alone; once the samples have been collected their DNA is reconstructed and mixed with the others until a stable DNA structure has been achieved. After that growth is artificially initiated while cybernetic additions are made during the final stages of development so a life support system can be added upon birth." Zim struck another pose similar to the first. "_Zimisagenius!_"

"Sadly the genius our empire needs," Gaulia stood. "We will donate our DNA for a trial run Zim, and I am certain that many of the coming soldiers and scientists will be honoured to contribute to this."

"Of course they shall once they hear that Zim has returned to save the whole Irken race from its slow doom," Zim bragged.

"And for your sense of modesty," Lok said sarcastically.

"If information on your team is public now, does that mean your name is now unlocked?" Zim asked.

"..." Lok's eyes narrowed. "Don't start Zim, I just found out my daughter's alive, I'm trying to have a good time, and you're really spoiling it."

"At least I'm not _locking it,_" Zim smirked.

He left the medical bay with a black eye-dragged by Gaz at Volt's request. The red eyed idiot chuckled, "Worth it."

Xxx

All three of them were together, Janie insisting that she should be present. It had much to do with her after all, and De killed any argument Rik made. She wanted to know what he and Janie had to hide.

It had come up in casual conversation when Elay mentioned that Janie had been tracked by Shadow Inquisitors like her. She stopped examining the navigation controls, which Elay had been showing her how to use at the time. Elay glanced up at her. "Is something wrong?"

De narrowed her eyes, "Tracked by Shadow? Just like... me? Those guys who came up to me last night had shadow symbols on them. But they were going to hurt me to try to find Rik... What would they want with her?"

Rik and Janie paled, but the former quickly swallowed his courage. He knew that he would have to tell her this, but he had hoped he could do it without Janie present.

"I'll tell you..." And after they had moved out of the command deck, so they could talk alone, he and Janie confessed to everything...

De sat there a moment; slack jawed, taking in the new information. The expression on her face turning from bewildered to upset, "Yooouu..." she looked at Janie, who sat at one part of the table in the kitchen area of the ship. The pink eyed Irken looked down in shame, quivering a bit as though she feared De would attack her...

"You cheated on your husband..." De looked at Rik, "...and you cheated on me..."

She searched her mind for who to be angrier at, and grimaced, voicing her thoughts aloud, "I can't decide who to be madder at. You, Rik, for mating with Janie in the first place or you, Janie, for not stopping him and staying loyal to your husband..."

"Be mad at me," Rik mumbled. "It wouldn't be the first time I made somebody close hate me."

"No...She's right, I should have been faithful to Velrik," Janie said.

"Janie," Rik said sternly. "...please leave."

Janie hesitantly got up. "I'm sorry De Rien...I really am." She left quietly.

"...I was gonna wait until we reached Envon to tell you," Rik said. "I didn't want her to get caught up in this; I was hoping she'd be gone before you were told." His face was expressionless. "I can't defend what I did, and I won't try. But I'm the one to blame for this, don't let this make you think badly of Janie."

Several emotions passed over De's face as she struggled again, "I don't know if that's possible... Both of you are at fault..."

She didn't want to be mad at Rik- she loved him- or Janie- she seemed nice- even though there were good reasons to be. The more she thought about it, though, she felt more disgusted that they had both broken their marriage vows in such a way than mad. "...I feel sick." she monotoned, giving up to the bad emotions dragging her down and laying her head on the table.

Rik reached out as if to comfort her, but pulled back. "...your room's the 7th one down the hall in the barracks if you want to be alone." He got to his feet. "I'm sorry De..."

He stepped out.

De didn't get up. She didn't even move. For the next twenty minutes she became a hollow, empty shell of an Irken- doing her best not to acknowledge her emotions or anyone else and succeeding. Rik, her husband had betrayed her...and Janie had betrayed her husband.

But Janie had said earlier that they were still married-she should have picked up on the 'still' part of it...so he had forgiven her? But could De forgive Rik for this? It was like he had as good as slapped her in the face and apologized for it a second later.

She gripped her head in her hands, and then tugged her antennae down and tried to block out all other noises, specifically her own sniffling. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed.

"Why Rik..." She whimpered. "_Why?_"

Xxx

"Where did these coordinates come from anyways?"

"Supposedly from a 'representative' of whatever species we're looking for," The Captain glanced at the data pad. "Humans, Homo-Sapiens...home planet is Earth in the Sol system."

"And it's right out in uncharted space."

"If it's uncharted, why did a human give us the coordinates?"

"Well it's not on _our_ charts, sir."

"We're not here to complain, we're here to do Tallest Blue's bidding," The Captain said patiently to his XO. "Nav Officer Cala, do we have an ETA?"

"Yes sir, we will be entering the Sol system in...several moments now."

"Sir, long distance sensors are showing massive amounts of activity."

"Where?"

"All over the system sir; transmissions, ships...on four or five of the planets and on many moons and asteroids. I can't count it all."

"That's larger than the presence our Empire has in most solar systems," The Captain noted as he checked the screen that Cala was reading off of. "Upwards of forty thousand ships and nine hundred stations operating...I think we found our ally-"

"Sir, four new ships appeared right by us! It looks like they...they used _teleporter_ technology to move their ships across the system." Four ships, not as large as the Blue Irken cruiser but with menacing weapons locked onto it were indeed present now. They were gun metal grey like a Vortian vessel, with jagged edges and blockish shapes.

"Send out a transmission, and don't even think of turning on the weapons or shields," Captain Ter said calmly.

"Ready to transmit."

"This is Captain Ter of the Blue Empire...is this a human I am speaking to?"

Nice way to start off First Contact, don't you think? Well it's hard to think with guns pointed at you from every direction.

Xxx

End of chapter

I have no Omakes for you, but if you have ideas for any you wish to see then just send it to me via Private Message!


	21. Damnation Arc, Nightmare Trap

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_Why do they follow you?"_

"_Because I am their Tallest, and I have earned my position by killing their previous Tallest and ruling better than he ever did."_

"_But you're a Defective."_

"_Does that affect my ability to rule?"_

"_You're a Defective."_

"_How is that so?"_

"_You're Defective," Red insisted._

"_You're bad at arguments; did anybody ever tell you that?"_

"_But it isn't normal; they should follow a proper Irken."_

"_How am I not proper?"_

"_You're a-"_

_Shadow's hand shot out and grasped Red by the throat, lifting him off the ground. "How...am...I...Defective? Answer wisely and like you have a mind of your own."_

"_Gah...ah..." Red wheezed before being set back on his feet. "You...you have that thing that lets you use all of those powers, it isn't normal."_

"_It isn't...? I see," Shadow nodded. "Perhaps you are the one who is not normal Red, look at your precious Empire. It's been split between three factions; the other two just as large as yours and at least a dozen other territories that make up the other half of what was once your empire."_

"_I'll restore it all; I'll bring the Irkens back under one rule."_

"_Good luck with that, you'll have to kill over two thirds of our whole species before none openly defy you, and half of those who remain before you have no enemies within your empire," Shadow smiled humourlessly. "And then all those out there who will gladly invade your weakened empire of perfect Irkens." He looked down at Red, who was still crouched and rubbing his throat. "But if I were to win...those who would seek vengeance on our people would be met with an empire at full strength, maximum numbers, soon to grow larger, and with each individual stronger than ever before."_

_As he spoke, black veins appeared on his skin, spreading from the area between his eyes. The entire time he had a serene smile on his face and spoke softly._

"_Now...is perfection worth the cost in strength that your empire will bring us?" He asked, looking out at the city that was his capital: Dalon. Many buildings were still under construction, millions of Irkens working as fast as possible. "If so...then yes, I am a Defective Tallest,"_

_He closed his eyes. "Being a real Irken cost me everything already...I won't let it do that again."_

Xxx

_**Now...you all like Shadow, is that right? What if I told you he is not even the villain at all? He's actually a hero, as big a hero as Rik, a Byronic Hero actually who has had yet to be overcome by his own flaw. He is Macbeth in the middle of his rule; he took his power by slaying the previous ruler of his empire and has killed more and more until there is no alternative but to make him the villain...**_

_**But he was never tempted to do it, not like Macbeth was.**_

_**He is still the hero where Macbeth became the villain; he just has his own methods of reaching his goal.**_

_**To quote the Meekroob, he is 'Not cruel, but efficient.'**_

_**Alternate Rik on the other hand is both cruel and efficient...**_

_**Scratch that, he's a professional sadist. Just watch.**_

Xxx

Paneece and the Caterpillar were exploring the halls of the palace, trying to find an exit that wasn't locked or seemingly indestructible.

"I like how you had this place designed," Paneece complimented as they passed another corridor lined with exquisite art carved and painted into the walls. "It's a lot more welcoming than Red's palace."

"We were not as militaristic as this universe's Irken race," The Caterpillar nodded. "We were more focused on internal affairs and progress."

Paneece saw an open door up ahead on their right. "I can appreciate that," She nodded. "But heads up, I think there's an exit up ahead. That's supposed to lead to the hangar if I recall."

The Caterpillar nodded, "Worth a shot."

They stepped through, but as they began to ascend the stairs they felt a sense of vertigo. Then they both stumbled forward and collapsed onto the floor of the hangar, which was twisting and reshaping around them. Paneece looked around frantically. "What is this?"

She was out of her element while in her dreams, where science and technology had no power. Nothing made sense in this dream world where shadows moved on their own and things like this would occur randomly. She shut her eyes, feeling the Caterpillar loop his arms around her and hold her close as gusts of wind battered them both...

And then it stopped. They opened their eyes to find that they were in a different room...it looked like a class room at the academy on Irk. Colour crept into the scene, along with images of Irkens. One looked familiar...it was the Caterpillar! He was probably just out of smeethood...

And he had three other class mates picking on him, poking him or pulling on his antennae. The teacher had stepped out for something and these three took their chance to torment the young Irken. One of them, the tallest student in the class and probably the oldest pulled so hard on one antenna that the young Caterpillar-or Darithil as Paneece guessed fell out of his chair.

"Cut it out!" He snapped, growling at the offender.

"Or what? You'll make my brain explode?" The taller Irken sneered. "You know the rules; _freak_, no psychic powers or you get your head cut open."

When Paneece sent him a curious glance the Caterpillar explained. "I was one of the few psychic Irkens of my generation, and offenses resulted in lobotomy to 'keep the general population safe from misuse of psionic powers'."

Darithil got back into his seat, grumbling and quivering a bit. He looked like he was close to crying tears of fury now. He was unable to defend himself against the stronger Irkens without his powers, and he wasn't allowed to defend himself _with_ his powers. He was just their punching bag...

That is until a red eyed student stepped in. "Uh...is this the First Year Basics class?"

He had several affirmative responses in the form of 'yeah' and 'yes'. He nodded, pausing as he saw the Caterpillar's younger self trying to ignore the three again. Finally one got up and kicked his chair out from under him. Growling, the Caterpillar looked up, his chair rising a bit.

"Hey, remember, if you get one offense and it's the operating table," the Irken sneered. "So no psychic powers freak."

"Did you say psychic powers? Well then allow me," Darithil closed his eyes, thinking this new student was going to join in. Suddenly the newcomer punched the leader of the tormentors right in the face, knocking him down, stunning pretty much the whole class. "I hate unfair fights." He helped the Caterpillar to his feet.

"Is this really...a memory?" Paneece wondered aloud.

"Yes..." The Caterpillar-the one with her said as he wiped his eyes. "...it's the day I met Rik, that's him right there."

"If I find you three pickin' on the guy again, you'll be answerin' to Rikalo 'Rik', yah pricks." The young Rik said with a smirk.

"Now that is the Rik I know," Paneece nodded. "Starting fights and taking the underdog's side." She paused. "Wait...I get it, he's showing us a timeline of your history together. He must have had to start from the beginning because...well this is all theory as far as I know but isn't it a lot easier to start a timeline with older memory and work your way up to newer memories? Especially if some of the newer ones are a little...jumbled?"

"I would imagine so." The Caterpillar admitted. "Back then, having my abilities was...as I have said, somewhat unsettling to me. I was still trying to learn to control them. And I know it might sound cliché, but the mere presence of a good friend...I think he was my rock. He helped me focus. He helped me concentrate. He was a constant, something I could always rely on. I knew from the moment I first saw him that he was someone special."

She saw a tiny blush come to his cheeks and Paneece blinked in surprise. "...did you...? I mean..."

"Oh, no, nothing...like THAT, I mean, nothing beyond perhaps slight boyish infatuation...it was never that serious...though it did lead to me wanting to be around him more...it did lead to our friendship developing. And he wasn't that bad to look at."

"No, I suppose not." Paneece chuckled slightly.

It fast forwarded through many scenes depicting their training. Rik ended up taking a military career, but Miyuki appointed him as the Caterpillar's bodyguard when he excelled in the government, angering some people along the way. There was an assassination attempt here or there, but Rik ended up foiling them. Rik himself became infamous for his marksmanship.

Then the memories fast forwarded again, this time to the day that Miyuki died. Rik stood with the Caterpillar by the grave even after many others left. He placed a hand on the back of the sobbing Caterpillar and knelt by him. "Come on now Darth, on your feet partner." He helped him up. "We're all gonna miss her...she was a leader few could ever hope for. But you're gonna be in charge soon with the way things are looking, you gotta stay strong for her...and for everybody here." He cast a glare nearby where Red and Purple were climbing into their personal cruiser. "I personally think those two scum are gonna try and take advantage of your growing authority."

"What can be done against them then?" The Caterpillar asked. "They're the leaders of the military."

"Maybe...but you're gonna be leader of the people," Rik pointed out. "Don't you worry partner, I got your back from here on in." He led the Caterpillar away from the grave.

As it skipped over months, and then years Paneece found herself holding the current Caterpillar's hand tightly and anticipating the next image...

The next memory took place in a large room where the Caterpillar was faced down by Red and Purple, who had several soldiers backing them up. Rik and Tak stood by Darth...and the two sides were obviously having an argument. Rik was just stepping up next to Darth, seeming to have just arrived in a hurry. Red and Purple briefly smirked upon seeing Rik, but then went back to the debate at hand.

"This day," The Caterpillar sighed. "...one of the darkest in my life..."

"You've got some NERVE." Red snarled.

"Yeah, the NERVE," Purple added.

"What's all this about?" Rik wanted to know, frowning over at the Caterpillar. "What're they complaining over now?"

"It's these two! They're not...normal!" Purple said, gesturing at Tak and her beloved. "They don't believe in the smeetery method! They actually are..._you know_..."

"No. I can't say that I do..." Rik said, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"..._you know_..." Red said suggestively.

"Why is it any of your business what they do in private?" Rik snapped. "They're our leaders, last time I checked."

"And WE head the military. Our goal is protect Irk from enemies without AND within." Red hissed. "**PERVERSION **being one of them!"

"People who live in glass palaces should not throw stones considering your own...unique relationship." The Caterpillar mused with a cold glare. "You cannot unmarry two people who are in love, or tell them they cannot express their love in a perfectly natural way."

"A perfectly OUTDATED RELIC of a way," Purple snapped. "You're living in the past."

"And you've ignored all the good the past can offer, blindly living in the present without a thought to the future. Why are you so objective to our way of living, our way of loving?" The Caterpillar asked. "You are welcome to have your way, we shall have ours. What is so horrific about this compromise?"

"We object because what you're doing isn't NORMAL! It's making us more like...like those OTHER races! Hell, the Vortians banned same-sex marriage, those backward **goats**!"

"Oh, don't go bringing _race_ into this." Rikalo said with a groan.

"You're fools." The Caterpillar snapped. "Your blind belief in the smeetery system will be the death of us all! Our children are weaker and weaker with every generation thanks to the sterile environment they spawn from, an environment you celebrate and cultivate! This...will not _stand_!"

"You're damn right it won't!" Red growled. "We're putting a stop to this! Guards! Arrest them all!"

Before any one of the six soldiers could draw a gun Rik had his pistol out and shot two of the guards, who already had their rifles out and aimed at Darth and Tak. Then he adjusted his aim, resting it on Red and Purple. "Hold it there men! Nobody moves or I will relieve Commanders Red and Purple of their position!"

"Rikalo, you are under command!" Red growled, though obviously surprised at Rik's action. "I order you to arrest those two immediately!"

"..."Rik exchanged a glance with Caterpillar. "Do you know why his mother assigned me to him?"

"I don't see how-"

DOW!

"AH!" Red fell over, whimpering as he nursed a gunshot wound in his left bicep.

"Because he's the only one who never gives me orders, which I suck at obeying by the way," Rik spat. "I ain't abandonin' my friends you whiny twigs. If you want Darth or Tak, you'll have to go through **me first**!" This made several of the guards back up, knowing that Rik was worth maybe a dozen-may two dozen of them easily.

"Th-this isn't over!" Purple stuttered, helping Red up. "We won't let you do this to the Irken race!" He dragged Red out, followed by their guards quickly.

"...whiners," Rik holstered his gun. "We should just let Spork take total command; he's not nearly as bad as these two."

"I'll discuss that with the council today," Darth nodded. "And Rik...thank you."

"Aw shucks Darth I told yah before, I got your back buddy," Rik grinned. "Think nothin' of it!"

"That day was one of the darkest? Looks like you won." Paneece remarked.

"This was the instigating factor in the Civil War that gripped our species." The Caterpillar said bluntly. "I was forever grateful to Rikalo for this. But Red and Purple couldn't allow our way of life to exist. They saw it as an affront to all they stood for. Frankly...I don't think they stood for anything that was worth dying for. Even now, if they had truly cared about our race...they wouldn't have committed the sin they did. They punished all of us for a personal grudge...just as Rikalo punished my race and humanity for HIS personal grudge."

The memory changed again, back to the throne room of the palace. Darth was addressing several Irkens, whom all had insect like characteristics similar to his. Eder, Spork, Red and Purple were among the dozen members of the council present.

"Commanders Red and Purple, you stand before this council on the charge of treason," Eder said. "Earlier today you directly threatened our leaders, and went as far as to unlawfully initiate martial law. We have both the security footage and testimony of your own guards to back this up."

"What do you have to say in your defence?" Admiral Spork asked coldly, glaring down at his former superiors.

"We say this...that you and the rest of your abominable followers should have killed us when you had the chance," Red sneered. "We're not going to sit by and let you turn our society into some abnormal collection of freaks, _Caterpillar._"

"Defiant to the end I see," Eder rolled his eyes. "If there is nothing else, then the council shall con-"

The ceiling suddenly shattered as several soldiers dropped down on cables. A ship was passing over the palace, firing lasers down into the plaza around it. Rik and his fellow guards already had their guns out and were firing, herding the council back towards the throne as the invading soldiers surrounded Red and Purple. The two commanders were pulled up and out of the palace, cackling madly. Rik and his team managed to kill most of the soldiers before they could retreat, and the palace's shield activated at the last minute.

It deflected lasers back onto the ship, and turrets built into the plaza rose out of the ground and drove the ship away.

"Damn...we have to find them!" Rik watched the ship go. "We have to stop them before this turns into a damned civil war!"

But it did despite their best efforts...

It showed the civil war being fought, and soon Rik himself led an assault into Red and Purple's fortress. And when he came out he met the Caterpillar, dumping two bound and beaten Irkens at his feet as their troops celebrated.

"Here they are," Rik said, holstering his gun.

"Are you and your men alright?" Tak asked, concerned as medics moved forward to treat the members of Rik's team.

"We got a few scrapes, nothing a few weeks off won't fix," Rik shrugged as Red and Purple were forced to their knees. "Took them alive like you asked, despite how much I wished to do otherwise."

"You...scum..." Red growled, one of his eyes swollen shut from a blow Rik gave him when he resisted his arrest.

"You've done very, very well, Rik." The Caterpillar said, nodding firmly as he folded his arms before his chest. "You lost, Red. You lost, Purple. Understand that I hold your life in my hands. I'm willing...to be merciful. Even now...even after all you've done."

"...you're _serious_." Purple gaped in surprise.

"Our forces will continue to fight to the last man." Red swore. "And you are a fool for sparing us."

"If you die, you become martyrs. You shall be taken off the planet and exiled, never to return. Perhaps you may be able to find some degree of happiness and peace once you are away from Irk. Perhaps, one day, you will understand why you were wrong. Perhaps, one day, I may even find the courage to forgive you, and you may find the courage to forgive me."

Purple chuckled a little. "You really mean all that. You are just...that's cute, that's really cute. You should put it on a greeting card."

"We have...prepared...for this. Did you think we didn't factor in our possible capture?" Red said with a cold smile spreading over his face.

"What are you goin' on about now?" Rik demanded.

"MY LORD!" an Irken slid to a halt near them. It was a runner. "My lord, our sensors picked up missiles being launched from silos outside of the city! Our air craft took out the silos before more could launch but the missiles are going to land any second!"

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN, NOW!" Rik grabbed Tak and the Caterpillar and threw them to the ground, himself and several Irkens using themselves to shield their leaders.

High over the planet, dozens of missiles slowly began to arch downwards, spiralling towards the surface. They could be seen plummeting towards the city from hundreds of miles away.

"It'll be alright," Rik said to his leaders, trying to sound confident as usual. "Just stay down, it'll be all-"

Then the missiles landed, but they did not explode...they send out a bio weapon all over the city. This was repeated all over the planet...every Irken was caught by it. It took the form of a cloud of green gas that spread over the planet.

"What...what is this?" Caterpillar asked as they all got up. Several soldiers wore gas masks, but registered no toxins in the air.

"...it's not killin' us," Rik muttered. "What could it..." His eyes widened. "No..."

"Rik, what's wrong?" Tak looked at him.

Rik suddenly let out a howl of despair and punched Red across the jaw, knocking him down and continued to pummel him and then Purple. "YOU ROTTEN GODLESS BASTARDS, HOW COULD YOU?"

"Rik stop!" The Caterpillar insisted as he and several others tried to pull him off of the two. "Rik, nothing has happened, perhaps they just-"

"They didn't kill us, Darth!" Rik snarled, tears pooling in his eyes for perhaps the first time that the Caterpillar could think of. "They killed our_ future_!"

For a moment, the Past-Caterpillar was quiet as he looked down at his body, looking over his hands, then turning to Tak, eyes widening at her before he narrowed his eyes at Red and Purple.

"What have you_ done_?" He whispered darkly.

"You won't be wettin' your willy in _HER_ anymore. Or anyone _ever again_!" Red laughed.

"...I **spared** your** life**!" The Caterpillar howled, his monocles falling off, the spiders spilling forth as he bared his fanged teeth, his back arching further and further like a giant snake, the foul, empty sockets blazing with unholy dark flame as his arachnid horde spilled out over Red and Purple. "**I spare your life and this is how you repay me!**"

"Oh my God are you-" Paneece gasped, the Present Caterpillar holding him close to her and turning her away so she couldn't look at the horror that soon followed.

"Don't look." He said swiftly, turning slightly pale as Red and Purple's screams soon became muffled...and then...silenced.

Paneece buried her face against the Caterpillar's chest until the memory moved on. "O-oh my god..."

Slowly the memory changed from crowds of Irkens realizing what had been done to them wailing and screaming. It moved on to a scene where Tak, the caterpillar and Rik stood on a ship overlooking a large blue planet. Obviously it had skipped many years, as all three of them looked older now.

"What is this...?"

"Our second home, the world known as Earth," The Caterpillar answered. "...and where I committed my own sins."

"...Darithil," Rik suddenly spoke up.

"You only call me Darth during parties...what do you use my full name for?"

"I'm not too sure," Rik said. "I'm not finding myself comfortable with your decision concerning the humans. The breeding part I don't mind but...the human from that country called...Australia, said that his wife gave birth to _smeets_...and she never remembered sleepin' with an Irken _consensually_." He looked at the Caterpillar. "Do we have another rogue psychic Irken runnin' around? One who could be strong enough to pull that off?"

"What? No, not that I am aware of," The Past-Caterpillar remarked, seeming to partially ignore Rik while holding up a necklace and comparing it to another. "Which do you prefer, Blue or Green? I am more partial to green."

"This is important." Rik insisted.

"I assure you, this is news to me." The Past Caterpillar admitted, the memory already changing again

"Did you...I mean..." Paneece asked of the present Caterpillar as he scratched his head.

"I...honestly cannot remember." The monocle wearing Irken admitted. "I truly can't. I'm fairly certain I only used my powers for seduction and the amplification of pleasurable sensations and feelings when it came to such a thing, nothing outright like...nothing like what Rikalo is describing, I...I simply cannot remember..."

The memories showed Rik stalking a group of Irkens from a roof top in a suburban area on Earth. He followed along from the shadows, watching as the Irkens carried humans in an isolated building. He peeked in through a window...and recoiled in shock, a disgusted look on his face.

As the memories got further and further along after that, showing more and more of Rik's investigation, it came down to the Champion of the Holy Irken Empire storming into the Caterpillar's office. "HEY! I need to talk with you!"

"What's wrong?" The Caterpillar asked, lowering himself down from decorating his wall.

"Do you wanna know what I found?" Rik slammed a folder down on the desk. "I found your wife; I found Skoodge, Zim, and a dozen other Irkens using illegal pheromone injections on humans! They grabbed them off the streets, dragged them outta sight, **doped** 'em on pheromones, and raped 'em! They're all pregnant now, even the males. They modified their anatomy to bear _children_!"

He placed both hands on the desk. "Now I know you are not dumb_, Darithil_, so don't try passing this off as nothin'. I had a lovely chat with Zim and Tenn after they were done and through putting those humans back. They told me **everything** I gotta know."

A deeply sad and shamed look appeared on the Caterpillar's face. "Rikalo..." He murmured. "I shall not lie; we...have been using the injections. I wished to test out certain...assets...that we had been developing in secret, and they worked surprisingly well. It was originally meant to be an aphrodisiac...to assist in making intercourse even more pleasurable for our two species."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I...I just wasn't sure how to." The Caterpillar mumbled quietly, laying his hands in his lap.

"Well then why did our people _abduct_ those humans?" Rik demanded. "Don't tell me that was foreplay, in a few months they'll be going to the papers saying Irkens raped them once they start squirting out Irken smeets."

He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit. "...Darth...I've had your back since the beginning. We're both upfront with each other. Now these have been stressful years but I want you to be honest with me...were those humans all volunteers? Or were they just breeding stock?"

An even more shamed look came over the Caterpillar's face. "...I'm so sorry." He said softly, bowing his head. "Many that have mated with us had been volunteers. But...recently...no; there has indeed been a shift. We have been using more forceful methods. And for that, I...I truly am sorry."

"God...Darth...why..." Rik put his head in his hands. "My god you..." He looked at the Caterpillar as though he were a completely different person. "I thought you were above things like this! This is-this is...this is something Red or Purple would have done if we were on opposite sides."

He shook his head and said with a firm tone. "You can't do this to them...you just can't. We have volunteers already, volunteers who will produce many smeets. We don't need to_ force_ humans to mate with us."

The Caterpillar looked deep into Rikalo's eyes. "I'll...I'll need to think on this." he murmured nervously. He didn't like the idea to begin with, but Rik was making a good point. "I'll see you tomorrow morning; first thing, bright and early and we can discuss this more thoroughly."

Rik nodded. "Yeah...this is just a bad decision, that's all it is. We'll be laughin' about it in a century or two."

The memory moved on, but when it began to form into the Caterpillar's office it changed and altered...and went to the Caterpillar and Tak, both asleep in bed...and something was appearing...

The thing leaned over the Caterpillar and whispered into his antennae, letting a smoke like substance twist around the appendage. Then it left...

"The Visitor in the Dark..." The current Caterpillar whispered. "Oh god...that's what Shadow meant...the Visitor put things in my head. It...Oh god it made me hurt my friend so badly..."

"Why show us this memory?" Paneece wondered aloud.

"Rik didn't show you...I did,"

They both turned and saw him standing there...Rikalo. But he wore the clothing he used to wear in these memories, scruffy and casual instead of a military uniform. He looked like the Rikalo of Paneece's universe.

"What...?" The Caterpillar hesitantly reached out and touched Rikalo, finding him solid and real. "What are you...?"

"Relax, I ain't the primary Rik," Rik said when he saw both companions tense, fearing he would attack. "Call me a fragment; you get all kinds of things like me when you have a...rather sudden personality change." He stood next to them. "I ain't exactly impressed with myself anymore than you are."

"Wait...so you're the old Rik?" Paneece asked.

"And the charmin' fellow who put you in here is the current Rik," The fragment nodded. "I've become a bit of a douche bag if you ask me."

"Why did you show us that memory? And whose memory was it?" The Caterpillar asked.

"It was the Visitor's memory," The fragment explained. "The Visitor and Rik share a bit of a link, but the...primary Rik just forgets these memories as soon as he experiences them. That's why he wouldn't have shown you this. He essentially has been made to ignore any memories that contradict the idea that he is in the right."

He paused, looking thoughtful. "As for _why_ I showed you it..." He smirked. "Whether or not I'm real...I still got your back, buddy."

The Caterpillar felt his eyes water a bit as he recalled how Rik would always make him that promise. "Rik..."

"Aw come on now buddy let's not get all sentimental on each other!" The Fragment insisted. "We gotta get you and your lovely lady friend out of here. Rik doesn't know I'm helpin' you, in fact every time he notices me he forgets me since I'm proof that he's wrong in what he does. But after these memories are over, he'll dump you off to be killed. I can help you fight your way out, but once you're out I can't follow...so I'll just tell you something important."

He leaned in. "Once you're out...find Drosco Pocrule."

"Who?" The Caterpillar blinked.

"Drosco Pocrule...he's my brother's advisor, the master of the Sheyi!" Paneece realized. "What does he have to do with this?"

"I don't know precisely, but the better question is what does he have to do with Tallest Shadow?" The Fragment replied. "The guy has pictures of him all over his room, he's florpin' obsessed with the guy."

"Maybe he was a previous customer?" Paneece suggested.

"No...Shadow's probably the only non-insane bad guy you'll ever meet," Rik shook his head. "He doesn't obsess for something so...petty. Pocrule wasn't always a Sheyi, he knew him before the Sheyi were even formed. If you find him, maybe you can find an advantage over Shadow. They were pretty damn close."

The fragment glanced off into the distance as the memories moulded into shape. "Here comes the next memory."

The next morning after the Visitor appeared; Rik entered the Caterpillar's office. "Mornin'!"

"Good morning, Rik." The Past Caterpillar said as the Present Caterpillar's eyes widened.

No, no, not this.

"I've done much thinking, and you are quite right that we should not be using the injections."

"Glad to see you've seen reason."

"Such a method's far too obvious and far too...brutal." The Caterpillar went on. "No, we'll do what they did to fluoride and introduce the needed chemical compounds into the drinking water, and into the most popular foods."

Rik's face fell.

"Before long, humanity will be more than willing to engage in free and open mating with us, and they, just as our race, will enjoy every tender moment of it." The Caterpillar sighed wistfully. "There will be an entire race of willing and happy breeding stock. Picture it, Rik. It shall be a thing of pure and utter beauty."

"Are you...florping mad?" Rik demanded. "My god Darth what the hell is wrong with you?"

"It works out for both of our races-"

"No, don't you dare pull that crap on me!" Rik growled. "This is worse than your last idea!"

"Rikalo," The Caterpillar frowned. "I must remind you...I am the leader of this empire. Not _you_. Now as your emperor, I **order** you to stand down!"

...

Rik stared at the Caterpillar. "That's the first time you ever pulled rank on me." Rik muttered. "And it'll be the first time I disobeyed you. I can't believe all of this..." His eyes watered visibly. "_You really have changed..._" He wiped his eyes, and glared at the Caterpillar. "I ain't standing down, and I'm not going to sit by and let you do this."

"Well then tell me what else you would have me do to save our race then, Rikalo?" The Caterpillar demanded.

"Why not temporarily opt for the pod born method?" Rik replied. "Just until we can figure out a way to undo what Red and Purple did! We have long lives, it's a virus with a cure waiting to be found; we can do it!"

"I won't have our empire weaken by 'manufacturing' smeets," The Caterpillar said firmly.

The present Caterpillar put his head in his hands. "Oh god...Rik..."

"It gets worse," the Fragment of Rik sighed, patting the Caterpillar on the back as the scene changed...

At one point in the following ones, Rik said. "You won't be wetting your willy on another human after tomorrow, _My Liege_."

Then it changed...to Rik standing before Caterpillar and his council, presenting them his proposal...

"...and with the combination of two Irken DNA strands into one, we can produce a stable smeet," Rik concluded, "Without the need for our current methods of intoxicating the human population to accept us."

Three of the council members-mentioned in an earlier memory as being on Rik's side nodded their approval. Darth, Tak and the other three wore blank expressions.

"...no." The Caterpillar whispered.

One of the council members glanced at him. "Uh...my lord, the council is still in debate-"

"No!" the Caterpillar stood, using his powers to freeze the occupants of the room besides himself and his wife in place. "I won't let you do this to us Rik. I'm not the one who has changed; you're the one who has _betrayed us!_"

The present Caterpillar stared in horrified silence as Rik broke free of the telekinetic grip.

"Guards! Arrest the Champion!" The Caterpillar snarled, looking like a mere shadow of his former self. Paneece turned away, not willing to see him at his worst.

Rik fought hard, but he was held back from killing his fellow soldiers. The other council members who had agreed with him were carried out during the fight. Soon over a dozen men and women trained by Rik were on the ground, injured or unconscious-or both. But Rik was brought down under a hail of bodies...

"I think you both know the rest," The Fragment said as the next memories showed Rik being held down, psychic Irkens attempting to break his will. "But there's one more memory for you to see."

"I...why don't I remember any of that last memory?" The Caterpillar wondered, shaking from head to...er..._tail._

"Don't worry, Rik didn't remember for a bit either." The fragment shrugged as the scene changed...

Rik was sitting naked in the middle of a cell, shadows under his eyes and he looked like he had lost weight. It was a far cry from the proud champion of the Holy Irken Empire. Then it appeared before him, stepping out of the corner as if appearing from nowhere and into the light that shined down in the middle of his cell. He looked up as the pitch black figure knelt down before him. "W-what...the hell..."

Suddenly it roughly grabbed him by the throat and tugged him to his feet. Rik grasped the arm, which surprisingly was solid, but was unable to break free. It leaned forward; hissing in his face as he slowly went limp, staring at the creature before him. It began to sink through his skin, through his eyes, his mouth...

He collapsed to his knees as the Visitor in the Dark vanished into his body. When he looked up...there was a narrow black pupil in the middle of his eyes. His mouth curled up into his old cocky smirk as he got to his feet, looking at the door. It slowly bent inwards and then flew out of its frame. He casually tossed it aside and walked out of the cell.

"Rik did have a grudge...that thing just took it and made it worse, fuelled his anger if you get what I mean," The fragment of Rik shook his head. "Poor guy's a puppet that doesn't see the strings."

"So...if we could get that thing out..." The Caterpillar smiled. "I could have my friend back!"

"You think he's worth saving?" Rik raised one nonexistent eyebrow.

"For a long time I thought his sins ran too deep...but..." He hesitated then, biting his lip slightly. "If these memories are _true_...then it is not completely his fault any more than it is mine. As you said...it is about second chances. I obtained one of my own...should he not get the same chance? We must find a way out of these memories." He insisted, looking around.

"Well to get out, you'll have to fight your way through his mind," The fragment explained. "It's corrupted by the Visitor, and nothin' short of removin' it entirely will restore him to normal. There are other versions of Rik guarding the pathways out, you'll have to fight and kill them to escape."

The final memories, of Rik using the psychic amplifier that the Caterpillar had used as a final method to dominate the minds of humans. For a moment all people thought how much they love Rikalo, the Champion of the Irkens...

And then they thought that he wanted them all to just die.

So they did.

And then Rik triggered a chain reaction that set fire to the whole planet. Irkens in underground settlements and on ships survived, but all of the humans were dead by then and their bodies scorched to a crisp along with over 99 percent of all life on the planet. The few thousand remaining Irkens in existence came together and left their universe altogether...

Then the memories stopped. They stood in the middle of Settlement A1, but the grass was dead and the sky was grey. The villages were scorched, pillaged, bodies hanging from walls and trees. The Caterpillar's castle was intact, but the battlements were lined with pikes tipped with the heads of more of his subjects.

"Oh...god..." Paneece looked around. "What...what happened...?"

"Not time to wonder," Rik said. "You can control this dream to an extent, make weapons and stuff like that. I'd suggest you do that, you'll need them." He formed two of his signature blasters in mid air and caught them as they dropped.

"Keep your eyes peeled." The Caterpillar insisted, the three of them making their way through the settlement, trying not to be unnerved, though it was obvious that the Caterpillar was deeply disturbed by the violence that had been levelled at these innocents...a dark glint was reflected in his monocles as they made their way towards the busted-open double doors that led inside the main entrance, a crashed chandelier before them, a mocking voice drifting through the air.

"A man's home is his castle. That's the saying, right? Well this one man-army has stormed it, raped it and pillaged it. Course, you'd know all about the "raping" part."

"That's a low, cruel blow." Paneece yelled back, "Big words coming from the **mass murderer**!"

"Oh you wound me!" Then he stepped out...

Only the face looked like Rik's, and only barely. He wore black and red battle armour that was dented, broken and blood stained. His face had old scars on them, and he was extremely well built. He held a single hand and a half sword in one hand, leaning the blade on his shoulder.

"So allow me to return the favour, tenfold," The Irken knight placed the tip of his sword in the ground and leaned into the weapon.

"Wrath," Rik scowled.

"That's his name?" Paneece swallowed.

"Yep, he's Rik's anger, thirst for revenge...and the source of Rik's idea to 'spite' the Empire by killin' all of the humans." The Fragment of Rik nodded, "One bad ass bastard who likes re-enacting attacks on this settlement every day or so among other things." He glared at Wrath. "Don't you have a baby to drown somewhere? Or a few million babies to set on fire?"

"I'll get to that later," Wrath shrugged. "For now I have the first real challenge in years."

He tugged the sword out and levelled it at the trio. "Who dies first?"

Xxx

Rik was on the bridge alone, checking the navigation screen as a holographic version of it floated past him. They were due to arrive at the location sent to them by Dev within several hours. Maybe if he was lucky somebody might blow his head off during a firefight once they landed.

"ETA to destination...four hours, thirty two minutes, shipboard clock," Rik sighed as he set the countdown.

Standing up, he turned to depart only to find the doors opening, admitting his wife of all people. "De..." He was startled at first, but composed himself. "Do you need anythin' dar-De Rien?"

De took a breath, and said quietly, "I- I wanted to say I accept both of your apologies and forgive you both for what you did... I also wanted to say sorry for the way I reacted to it because it probably just brought up old regrets and bad feelings."

"De..." Rik drew her into a hug, startling her. "You have _nothing_ to apologize for, but I have forty years to make up for."

"You're wrong that I have nothing to apologize for... The apologies are just not all to you," De sighed, "And... You don't have to make up for those forty years." She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Your being here with me now is worth to me all the trouble I went through to stay alive. Its worth all that time you weren't there."

"De...when did you end up on Purgatau?"

De looked away, a little ashamed. "I...I left home after Fren and Ouri were old enough-"

He interjected, tilting her head back up to look at him. "You can say it's nothing, but those are _forty whole years_ I should have spent with you_. Forty years_ during which you wound up as some beggar on Purgatau. And while you were off raising the kids alone I was lying with another man's wife. I'm not letting it rest De...I doubt I'll ever be able to." He gently took her into his arms again, rubbing her back with one hand. "But I know that I'm not making the same mistake again."

De opened her mouth, as if to say something in response, but then shut it again and nodding solemnly. She sighed again softly, putting her arms around him and resting her cheek on his shoulder.

At the doors to the bridge, Janie watched them, a small sad smile on her face. She was glad that Rik and De Rien were mending their relationship, and she had no right to but...

She still wanted Rik to care for her, and Lania and Rimak...

But he had a family of his own that he should have been allowed to be with for so long. Janie was an accident that only made it harder to go back, as were Lania and Rimak.

She had to let him go back...

No matter how much she didn't want to.

Xxx

End of chapter! My god I think this is the longest chapter yet!


	22. Damnation Arc, Arrival in the Deep

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_What is Defective?"_

"_An Irken who does not fit the requirements of the Empire," Red sounded confident in his answer._

"_But there is no single Empire,"_

"_My Empire is the original ruling body of Irken society."_

"_But what came before your Empire?"_

"_Nothing predates the Irken Empire!"_

"_How do you know?"_

"_Because that is always how it has been!"_

"_So we crawled out of the mud with PAKs on our backs and looked to the stars with one single thought in mind: Conquest."_

"_Why do you ask these things? They mean nothing!"_

"_Why don't you ask them?"_

"_I told you, they mean nothing and are of no importance!"_

"_But how can you know that? Who will ask the questions if not I?"_

"_I can't wait for our alliance to end."_

"_I already prepared for that," Shadow looked amused as Red glared at his 'ally'._

"_So you admit that you conspire against me then?"_

"_How do you know that I really am or that I have only told you this to make you blindly tumble about?" Shadow glanced at the confused Tallest. "Now that you have heard the possibility, you will constantly attempt to secure yourself against this predicted treachery, and waste unnecessary amounts of resources until..." He made a cutting gesture across his own throat. "And only after you have fulfilled this prophecy by trying to avoid it, will I act."_

_He winked at Red. "I recall a saying from a species that you will hopefully never meet. It was from a long dead leader among their civilization. He said 'never interrupt your enemy when he makes a mistake'. Now if you're done analyzing me, shall we proceed to discuss the overhaul of your precious Massive?"_

Xxx

_**You probably think I have a long rant to do, but you're wrong.**_

_**Now start reading or you shall never see another lemon in this story again!**_

Xxx

"Paneece, get back and let us handle this!" The Caterpillar insisted as he moved in front of her.

"I can fight!" Paneece protested. "I hardly think being less than a day pregnant-if I am at all will stop me from fighting in my dreams!" She was a trained Invader damn it! She wasn't going to run away from some sword swinging idiot who-

SWISH!

Rik tugged them both down under the blade of Wrath, barely avoiding getting their heads chopped off. "Can we have the lovers' quarrel later? Just let her help out or you might never get outta here!"

Wrath laughed as he brought his sword up over his head and swung down. The Caterpillar pushed Paneece out of danger when he saw the attack coming and angled his long body so that it curved out of the path of the blade. He tried to coil around Wrath to pin him, a common tactic he took, but before he could pin the warrior's arms he felt the sword dig deep into a part of his body. Crying out, he released Wrath and tried to get away.

Wrath grabbed his body near the middle and swung him up off the ground. He struck Rik, knocking him down before Wrath released him, resulting in a small nearby shack being demolished under the Caterpillar's weight. Paneece took this chance to unfold her PAK legs and leap on top of Wrath. She jammed her PAK legs deep into him through gaps between the armoured plates, but Wrath seemed to barely notice.

He grabbed Paneece by one foot and tugged her down. She yelped as she was flung into the ground, and had enough sense to twist out of the way before Wrath's blade jammed down. One of her PAK legs had shattered, but an unintentionally mental command made it reform perfectly. Wrath brought his sword up again, but then Rik flew down from a large jump he had made and landed a drop kick to Wrath's exposed throat. The knight gagged, dropping his sword. The blade landed tip first in the ground behind him.

Rik was barely crouched for a moment before he threw himself at Wrath, striking viciously with blows that left dents in the armour. Paneece watched his movements and realised that the shimmer around Rik's fists were telekinetic fields used to amplify the force of his blows and protect his hands. This was a dream, so they could do anything here within their power and control...

Then Rik's barrage failed, and Wrath head butted him so hard that he slid across the ground and carved a shallow trench into it. He planted his hands palm down next to his head and curled inwards, rolling back in time to avoid Wrath's elbow as it jammed deeper into the soft, disturbed earth. Wrath's arms were growing in disproportion to the rest of his body, veins and muscles bulging under green flesh that was stretched to its limit. Wrath had them now, the black pupil in the middle of his eye, and yellow lining the edges of each red sphere.

"Not bad, not bad," He licked his lips, "Now, **more!**"

He lunged as the Caterpillar rejoined the fight. His wound from moments ago had healed entirely, leaving only a cut in his long white robe as he twisted and arched around or out of range of Wrath's attacks. Finally he lunged and unleashed all of his own PAK legs, angling the tips so that he could slice them and leave shallow but painful wounds. The PAK legs cut through the chainmail and knocked the plates of metal loose.

Wrath caught one PAK leg and then viciously pushed the Caterpillar away with a jab to the chest that sent him to the ground. Rik took over, engaging Wrath with a series of kicks. Much of his armour had fallen away, allowing Wrath more agility in return for his loss of defensive power. He ducked to avoid horizontal kicks and pivoted to the side to dodge vertical or frontal kicks.

Paneece took this chance to attack Wrath by forming a knife in her hand and lunging for his knees. He moved at the last second and she reached past his right leg, jamming he knife into the meat of his left thigh instead. Wrath grunted and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying into Rik. He wrapped his arms around her and caught her, sliding back several feet before depositing Paneece on her feet.

"For a dream this sure feels real!" Paneece placed a hand on her stomach, concerned for the theoretical smeet she might already be carrying.

"It's supposed to darlin', but you can rest assured if you're expectin' then you won't risk losin' the little smeet here," Rik said.

"Until she _dies_ that is!" Wrath said before his arms shrunk back down to normal size. He reached down and grabbed a branch from a dead tree. The wood changed before their very eyes, becoming a long curved blade...

"Katana!" Rik and The Caterpillar shouted.

"Paneece don't try blocking that with anything, that blade will cut right through it and then you!" The Caterpillar cautioned Paneece, who was a little too close to Wrath for his liking.

"A blade made of high and low carbon steel," Wrath sighed dreamily as he dragged the tip of the blade through the ground. "You got one of these as a diplomatic gift, one among three or four hundred sent by humanity when you first landed."

"Yeah, and I kept it out of reach of overgrown smeets like you," The Caterpillar replied.

"Your loss," Wrath shrugged. "Now..." He lunged forward with a downwards stroke that would have sliced Paneece in half if she didn't throw herself to the side to avoid it. Just as she was getting up Wrath was already slicing horizontally towards her, but she managed to drop back down while scrambling backwards away from the warrior.

He turned the sword in his grip and raised both arms in preparation to impale her through the chest, but The Caterpillar slammed the end of his tail into Wrath's face. The blow knocked him away from Paneece and allowed Rik to leap in by slamming his shoulder into Wrath's now unprotected side. Enough of the armour had fallen away that he was able to knock the breath out of Wrath and not slam into a thick metal barrier.

Wrath moved with the attack and rolled like a log, coming up in a half crouch and the katana grasped with both hands in a defensive stance. This allowed him to catch The Caterpillar's attack, which this time was a telekinetically thrown rock that would have broken bones had it struck. Though she did not know much about the weapon, Paneece assumed that Wrath was reinforcing it against stronger attacks. The blade cut clean through anything sent towards it despite how it should have crushed or bent the thin curved blade.

"If he can make an indestructible sword..." Paneece shut her eyes, willing a pair of shorter blades to materialize in her hands. "Then I can make _two_ indestructible swords!"

"Hm...She learns quickly," Wrath nodded.

"Well Darth you chose yourself one smart cookie," The Fragment muttered to the Caterpillar as the three companions regrouped.

"Part of me does wish that Skullene had accepted, if only to have the more destructive sister fighting by my side," The Caterpillar admitted. "No offense Paneece."

"None taken, I hate being here enough to take that as common sense to wish for," Paneece said before Wrath rushed them and tried to slice through the midsections of their bodies. Rik back flipped out of range, The Caterpillar twisted out of the way, and Paneece leaned to the right until the blade flew over her. As it came at her again, this time from above she held both knives up while moving to the right. She forced Wrath's blade off to her left and down into the ground.

He released the weapon, brought both hands together and lacing his fingers together. He slammed his fists into Paneece's exposed gut, doubling her over. She coughed and hacked, falling to one knee as she threw a hand out to balance herself. Wrath snatched his sword up again and tried to end it with a decapitating blow to her neck...

Only for Rik to dive in and tug her out of the way before he even swung. His blade bit into the barren earth of the dream realm, and Wrath let out a frustrated growl. "You all are truly the first real challenge...and the most _annoying_ challenge at the same _time!_"

"We got that a lot before, when we were all one person," The Fragment declared as he got up and faced Wrath.

Instead of a verbal joust, Wrath shot forward so fast that several parts of the remains of his armour snapped off. He gave Rik an uppercut so fierce that he flew into the air, and then snatched Paneece up before Rik even landed several feet away. "Here's another thing I actually cared about back then...chivalry."

He slowly began to strangle the life out of Paneece, pinning her with one heavy knee to her stomach as she struggled. He weighed a ton without his armour, and his knee was slowly crushing the lower parts- the 'floating ribs' of her rib cage. Gasping weakly, she squeezed her eyes shut as they watered. Her hands reached up, pushing at him and growing weaker...weaker...

Until she had the focus to form a knife in one hand and sink it deep into the side of Wrath's neck. The copy of Rikalo snarled and tossed Paneece aside harshly. He tore the blade out, ignoring the fountain of blood that followed. The Caterpillar, a furious look on his face, grabbed Wrath and threw him through the air.

"You _dare?_" He snarled. "You dare to lay a hand on her? To make an example of how far you have fallen, you sick bastard?"

"Now **that** is what I am looking for," Wrath grinned as he stood. "Come on Darithil...show me all that pent up anger you keep holding in! Show it to me!"

And The Caterpillar did, clawing and punching Wrath like a wild animal. He tore open flesh until only bone was visible, he hit Wrath in the face so hard that one eye swelled shut and at some point his jaw shattered. He summoned items telekinetically, jamming sharp objects into Wrath or bashing him with them.

Rik watched in total shock and awe as he cradled Paneece's shivering form. He was glad that she was not watching this...but just in case he gently grasped the tips of her antennae to stop her from hearing it.

Finally, the Caterpillar sent Wrath sailing into the wall of his castle, leaving an imprint of Wrath in it as he fell to the dried moat surrounding the structure. At first all was silent, and then Wrath let out a rattling breath. Slowly he got up, his broken body mending itself. One by one his bones' broken pieces reconnected and organs were shaped into their original form. Within moments he stood there unharmed, but the barrage had eliminated what little of his armour remained.

"Perfect!" Wrath cackled as his arms spread out to the side. "That was what I was looking for in you! Now I can finally end this!" As he spoke, a new katana formed in one hand. "First you die," His eyes gleamed brightly with anticipation, "And then your whore and your love child."

With a frustrated snarl at Wrath's arrogance, The Caterpillar leaped through the air and slammed into him. The Emperor of the Holy Irken Empire coiled around Wrath as he dropped his new katana, grabbing the red eyed Irken's neck in an effort to strangle the warrior who vaguely resembled his old Champion. At first it seemed to work, but then The Caterpillar found his airways being blocked as a wave of paralysis passed through his form. The folds of his body around Wrath went slack as the warrior stood up, lifting him by the throat.

Rik rushed to the edge of the moat, "Darth!"

"I think I'm in need of some new clothes for my annual hunting trips," Wrath's katana-now returned to his hand shrunk into a vicious hunting knife. "I always wondered if you were more like a snake than a caterpillar, either way I get myself a new hat out of this!"

He reared the blade back and swung for The Caterpillar's throat as Rik formed a gun in his hand and took aim.

**DOW!**

Xxx

"What is this place?" Envon asked, holding the small green orb in his hand high so that it illuminated the massive chamber they had appeared in. It appeared to be the interior of a sort of temple, the size of a small stadium that could seat perhaps five or six hundred if somebody took the time to count the rows of seats. A path cut through the stands to a large statue with an altar at its feet.

The statue itself was merely a single pillar, rounded and sticking straight up. At first glance it seemed to be blank and smooth, but if one looked closer...

"A temple of the Old Religion," Tak observed the carvings on the pillar. "Or what your universe calls the Old Religion; my people still worship the Cornerstone of Light. These however...are so neatly drawn that not one architect in even the Holy Irken Empire could have made them." The carvings depicted the equivalence of Biblical Events concerning the Cornerstone of Light, the deity of the Holy Irkens. The deity himself-it quite specifically called him a man appeared to be some sort of dragon like creature that inspired love and good where he went...

A lovely thing to worship, but in this galaxy Envon couldn't help but know that this was a pipe dream. Perhaps in their universe this Cornerstone of Light still listened, but there had been far too much suffering here for there to be any divine being watching out for them.

"But the pillar..." Skullene placed one hand on it, feeling the surface. "Rine, sweetie would you head to the far side of the room and look back at the pillar?"

"On it, maneeme," Rine nodded and rushed to the stands on the other side of the temple. He looked back as Skullene pulled out more of the green orbs of light and tossed them onto the walls and parts of the pillar.

"Alright everybody, look up," She instructed.

As they followed her orders, Skullene elaborated. "Does the pillar look straight?"

"Yes, why does this matter?" Skoodge asked.

"Rine, does the pillar look straight from where you stand?" Skullene asked.

"Yes maneeme!" Rine called out, his voice echoing a bit. "Straight as a...wait..."

Tak's eyes widened. "I see...this should not be possible."

"Care to explain to those among us who aren't art critics?" Tenn asked.

"The pillar, if it is truly straight should not look straight from where Rine stands," Drosco whispered.

The Sheyi Master had accompanied Envon and Grimrair to Settlement A1 at the Tallest's insistence. Now he stood in his usual Sheyi clothing, but wore a full black body suit under it that still showed off an impressive physique. His orange eyes scanned the pillar from top to bottom.

"While on Earth, we learned of this optical illusion," Tak stepped back until she was half way between the group and Rine. "Yes...the pillar looks straight no matter how far or close I am. Even the Irken eye is fooled by this yet it appears straight."

"How is this relevant?" Grim asked.

"Grim...when something as tall as this is built perfectly straight and flat, at a distance it appears to be curved or at an angle," Skullene said. "In order to compensate for this, architects curve their pillars so that they counter the trick of the eye and fool the brain into thinking the pillar is actually straight. As minor as this is...something about this whole temple is not right. Anywhere else in the universe where an Irken would stand this pillar should look curved, but here it is not...something has allowed us to overcome a weakness in our perception."

"The humans of Greece used this design often," Tak agreed. "Only a computer would be able to show a straight pillar looking as it should from a distance after compensating for the flawed sight of the user. This..." She shook her head. "I know that it should be insignificant, but this alone makes me fear that if the very nature of this temple has changed the flow of information from our eyes to our brains, we cannot trust a thing that we see or hear."

"So the simple answer: we don't trust it," Drosco decided. "Envon...my Tallest, there is something about this temple, and correcting an optical illusion is only the tip of the ice berg if I am correct."

"When you say it like that, this does sound...something to be concerned about," Envon muttered.

Suddenly the chamber appeared to be much darker and smaller than before. Rine, who stood at the edge of the pool of light rushed back towards the group, shuddering. "I suddenly wish you never noticed this, maneeme, now this whole place gives me the chills!"

"Well, then we had better leave," Envon activated the lights on his PAK and spotted three large archways leading to corridors at the back of the stands. "There, we'll have to pick on and make our way out."

"They could lead anywhere," Skoodge interjected. "I know this sounds cliché, but maybe we should split up."

"Skoodge, do you recall all of those entertainment programs that I said were saved over from Earth? Those horror movies, action movies and what not?" Tak raised one nonexistent eyebrow. "What happens whenever the group splits up?"

"That's only when they go in pairs and get distracted!" Skoodge waved one hand dismissively. "If we go in like...how many of us are there?" He made a quick head count of himself, Tenn, Tak, Drosco, Skullene, Rine, Grim and Envon. "Eight..."

"So three to two tunnels then, and the unlcuky pair to the third" Envon nodded. "Skully, you're staying by me; Skoodge, it's your bright idea so you can take Grim another way. Perhaps with him around you'll survive this 'horror movie'."

"I shall go with you then, Tallest Envon," Tak followed along after the blue eyed ruler. "I feel you have a better chance of finding my husband first."

"Way to show your faith in us making it out alive!" Rine called to her.

"I said finding him _first,_" Tak repeated.

"Ah..." Rine nodded before he, Tenn and Drosco took the tunnel on the far right.

"Try to keep in contact," Envon instructed as they stood before the mouth of their respective tunnel. "And keep in constant view of one another." He dropped a small device onto the ground. "That's a sub space beacon, not even a thousand miles of rock and metal would be able to interfere with that. Hopefully that will bring an entire armada running to this planet...where ever we are."

Xxx

**DOW!**

K-_SHING!_

Wrath blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened. His knife...the blade was missing two thirds of its length, and the rest had flown clear out of his hand. Paneece stood before him, between the warrior and the Caterpillar, holding up the knife she had used to protect the Caterpillar with. Wrath's grasp on the Emperor's neck vanished; dropping the white robed Irken as his other hand slowly reached up and touched the bullet hole in the back of his head.

"Colt Anaconda, ass hole," Rik said, lowering the cumbersome revolver. "I don't know why...but the moment felt appropriate and you always loved human weapons so much. I decided you could fall by one too."

Wrath collapsed to his knees, gasping as blood poured from his mouth and eyes. "You...you can't...I won't die...not from a wound like this..." He grinned sinisterly again, slowly getting up, _"And not by your hand!"_

"You're right...not by my hand...anything I do won't permanently kill you," Rik nodded. "After all, I'm a lowly Fragment and you're an intact piece of this shell of a mind...but those two..." He looked to Paneece. "She had enough mental focus not only to move fifty feet in the time it took you to swing your arm a few feet; but she created a weapon in your own realm that cut through your indestructible weapons. And Darth there put up one hell of a fight for a man of peace."

"I do my best," The Caterpillar winced as he rubbed his throat. Paneece helped him up, gently feeling the bruised flesh on his neck with one gentle hand.

"Finish him before he gets back up!" Rik shouted, tossing the Colt Anaconda through the air. Paneece caught it, looking uncertain. She held the weapon to Wrath's head with one hand...

In real life holding a Colt Anaconda so casually would have damaged her wrist and hand, but with this being a dreamscape and Paneece being the only one among the group who had never seen an Earth made projectile weapon did not know this. When the gun fired there was no recoil whatsoever, like a laser gun-something Paneece was used to. This was because she was so used to the energy weapons that a gun with recoil seemed like a myth to her.

But the result was amplified by her imagination of what death by a projectile gun would be like. Wrath's head was blown in half, blood spurting from it and raining down in droplets, almost like a fire hydrant being smashed and releasing a jet of water. Paneece stood there, arms shaking as the blood dripped down her skin and clothes...

And then it actually began to rain blood-a complete accident on Paneece's part. She had not intended it, but it did not help to calm her down. The Caterpillar gently took the gun from her, tossing the weapon into the mud and lifted Paneece up, covering her from the blood rain with his own form. "Sh...It's alright Panny...its over."

She whimpered. "I...when I was an Invader it seemed so much easier to do that...all I did was press a button and people would panic and run around screaming because their computers and fancy lights were off...this is..."

"As close to reality as this mind can get, which is pretty damn close," Rik finished for her. "Don't cry over him Paneece...he was a part of Rik that had to go."

As he spoke, the settlement faded away into nothing. A new scene began to form, showing the throne room of the Palace once more.

"And we have six more like him who have to die too," Rik whispered.

Xxx

End of chapter

Now for viewer consideration, with guest star OCs co-developed by myself and CynderBark, we present...

**THE OMAKE ADVENTURES OF LOE'N LUCY: EPISODE ONE, Another day on the job**

_Lucy is an Adusta Pluma 'pup' who was conceived by DJ Insomnia (AKA: Lucid) and Carlos, who took the form of an Adusta Pluma after volunteering to help repopulate the dying species, which had a habit of killing male mates during sex. After 88 or 89 broken necks Carlos was faced with an army of children, among them...Lucy, who has a habit of taking apart anything mechanical. And poor Loe has a robotic arm she has had her eye on for a long time now..._

_Watch and read._

"Never-never-never-never!" Loe repeated the word over and over again as he fled down the alley. "Get away from me!" A tiny shape shot after him through the shadows, leaping over trash that Loe knocked down in an effort to slow it down...-

THUD! Loe was knocked face first into the ground by the small shape. Lucy made an eager noise as she fiddled with his robotic arm, eager to finally take it apart. Her father Carlos gave her plenty of things to take apart, but a prosthetic limb was-

"AH! Leggo! Leggo!" Loe shook his arm wildly, trying to send the Adusta-Pluma/Chaos Entity hybrid flying off. She whined, digging her claws in to slots and gaps in an effort to hold on. "Curse you Carlos! Why the hell do I always have to baby sit the Problem Mechanic?"

The simple answer: Carlos and Lucid liked to see Loe on the verge of tears after he came back to drop their daughter off.

_I know, short...didn't know what to do with it yet. But it shall go further! This was an Omake requested by CynderBark!_


	23. Damnation Arc, An Unwelcome Visitor

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

"_It was you!" Admiral Sket snarled as his soldiers stormed the bridge of the cruiser that acted as Tallest Blue's flagship. "I should have guessed it!"_

_Envon slowly turned to meet a dozen guns aimed right at him. "Gentlemen...welcome aboard the Setepia."_

"_Admiral-wait no..._Tallest_ Envon," Sket sneered. "I am placing you under arrest for high treason against the True Irken Empire, the murder of Tallest Purple, and for conspiracy to usurp Tallest Red's authority."_

"_Really now?" the Tallest casually sat in his chair. "Tell me Sket...are these your best men...or your most loyal men?"_

"_My loyal soldiers_ are_ the best Envon!" Sket hissed. "They overran your pathetic automated security. Your usual arrogance has cost you dearly; not bringing even a skeleton crew with you on this voyage was foolish. Now your rebellion is at an end."_

"_Hm..." Envon looked amused, one leg crossed over the other. "Yes...anybody who s unquestioningly loyal to you will do, yes? Do you bother to train them above the other soldiers?"_

"_Stop stalling!" Sket barked. "Soldiers, prepare to fire-"_

_Then one Irken's head popped off, his eyes wide from a brief moment of pain he felt before Gaulia, who uncloaked had sliced through his neck. Then Phela and Ginia also appeared and leaped into action, Ginia slamming into two of the soldiers from behind and grabbing their necks. She lifted them off the ground and then drove them down face first. Their necks were broken by the impact. Phela meanwhile deployed a kind of whip that wrapped around the soldier next to Sket and sliced him to pieces. Bits of Irken fell in a mushy pile mixed with fibres of the victim's uniform and pieces of metal from his weapons and armour._

_The other soldiers fired wildly, as did Sket with a blaster pistol until Gaulia landed next to him as he aimed at Envon. She sliced upwards with one sword and cut clean through his elbow, and before he even had time to scream she took off his head. The other soldiers began to fall back, but only two made it to the doors. Envon picked up Sket's pistol and fired two precise shots that took down both Irkens._

_Now the bridge was the scene of a massacre._

"_And your arrogance, my former colleague," Envon kicked Sket's headless body. "Bringing one commando team with you when you know I never go anywhere without a backup plan."_

"_My Tallest, I am sorry we took so long," Gaulia said as all three sisters bowed. "We were dealing with the other half of the intruding force in the secondary command center."_

"_Think nothing of it, you all performed better than I could have ever hoped," Envon smiled. "You all truly are the best bodyguards I have ever had the pleasure of training." He gestured for them to rise, going as far as to individually escort them all to a standing position one at a time. "But remember, after we are through with Red and Shadow...you won't be calling me Tallest anymore."_

_He tilted Gaulia's head up when she kept it bowed, and smiled kindly. "Now let's get back to New Irk, by now Dev will have found whoever reported my movements to Red so our little trap is completed. I'll drive."_

Xxx

_**A little peek at the three 'sisters' who serve Envon. He didn't choose them for their looks, surprisingly, though I'm sure that it did play a part in that. Loyalty goes so far, but it is also necessary in a good bodyguard. Do you want a deathly loyal guard who cannot beat off a puppy or a one man army prone to turn against you?**_

_**The answer: neither. Strength is a deficit, if you don't have enough you need more but if you have enough of it you'll never care about it. But Loyalty...it just keeps piling up once you have it, unless you lost that person. In that case I'd keep an eye on them; a disloyal servant is easy to observe, but a formerly loyal servant...**_

_**That is when you must be afraid.**_

_**But nothing is scarier than the loyal servant of an enemy, something that Rik and his team are about to learn.**_

Xxx

"It doesn't feel right," BlackJack repeated, looking at her new right hand...her new _robotic_ hand. It was not like Loe's, which could merely be called a reinforced science tool with claws; instead it was a fully armoured model that could snap bones in half. It was built to match the shape of her real arm by a quick scan of the outline of her good arm, and the steel plates had been shaped quickly to cover the wiring and skeletal frame beneath it.

"It's a basic model," Elay replied. "I know you can't feel anything from it, but maybe in a year or so you can get a tank grown one to replace your real arm. Until then...you did insist on being able to fight."

"If this is basic, what's a special model?" BlackJack asked while rotating the arm back and forth to test the level of movement it gave

"More long term models have a special artificial sensory preceptor that is sandwiched between a thin upper layer of metal and a stronger secondary layer. But those often come with kinetic shields for stopping every single blade or hammer from leaving parts of the arm numb. If I had the components I'd make you one, but I don't so you'll have to make use of this for now." The pilot shrugged. "Just try to practice holding stuff with it; it'll respond to signals from your PAK like it would if it were real so there's not a lot of learning to do."

"You sound like you had one before," BlackJack muttered as she slid the sleeve of her shirt down to cover the robotic limb.

"I did," Elay tapped her right thigh. "Right leg, crushed under a large metal beam. It had to be cut off and I was stuck with a replacement until a new leg was successfully grown for me a year later. I managed to nab one of those sensory models, but I avoided gun fights for the most part during that time."

All of a sudden Kronos had teleported into the medical bay. "Rik needs everybody on the bridge."

"Does it hurt to knock?" Elay asked rhetorically, but nodded and took off her oil stained gloves while on her way out. BlackJack followed while Kronos simply teleported again-his favourite method for getting to urgent meetings apparently.

Once gathered on the bridge, Rik addressed the team. "We'll be at our destination in just one hour. Now none of our recon drones have returned yet and we won't have the planet in visual range for another fifty minutes. Until then we need to start planning, and we have to be careful on this one since we already lost a good man on Purgatau and BlackJack just had the quickest operation I've ever seen Elay give."

In most cases to remove a limb and replace it took at least six hours with a proper Irken Medical Specialist in charge. But Elay had managed to do it in four and a half with help from the ship's computers-which had been given several Low-Grade Vortian medical AIs that could top most Irken doctors. BlackJack would feel awkward with it for several days at best.

"I can handle myself Rik," BlackJack snapped defensively. "Either I get used to this thing or I'll kick the bucket on this mission!"

"I wasn't judging your capacity to fight, trust me," Rik nodded. "But I want you to have a more...support based position for this one. You're good with a rifle?"

"One of Vexus' best," BlackJack nodded.

"Then you'll be our sniper for this one alongside Credaran," Rik nodded. "Another thing, we picked up a subspace beacon from the target destination. It was an Imperial one with Envon's personal ID code on it, meaning that he's gone ahead of us with his own team. That means that either whoever took Paneece is on alert, or have no idea that they'll have two teams storming their fortress. And knowing Envon's fleet, which I do then they'll pick up on the beacon and come here guns blazing in a few more hours. Luckily nobody will accidently pick up on the signal except for some occasional static unless they have a transponder from Envon's armada."

"So we have the element of surprise, a team on the inside, and back up on the way," Kronos nodded his approval. "What's our main objective? Will we be going for Paneece ourselves?"

"Nah, but if you get the chance don't be afraid to give the girl a lift," Rik replied, taking his usual seat. "First we scope out the location, and then I'll make a plan."

"So our plan is to _make a plan_, as usual?" Elay asked, vaulting over a console and depositing herself into the pilot's chair.

"You know it," But just as Rik spoke, every screen on the bridge flickered. "...why did that look like something bad is about to happen?"

Then the lights went out.

"Uh...systems are operational but manual controls are non-responsive," Elay looked to Rik.

"...I think we just got ambushed," Rik pulled one of his guns out and stood up. "Everybody, get a weapon and stay close. I'm heading to the secondary command center, anybody not going stays here."

Xxx

"Their ship has just entered the system, and they are attempting to hide with a basic cloak," Shadow sighed, sounding irritated. "I think you've invited a few too many guests to my home, Rik."

The former Champion sat cross legged by Paneece and The Caterpillar, observing their actions in the dream world. "Relax; there is nobody in the Blue or Holy Empire who can do us any harm." Standing up, he stretched. "But I suppose that your precious attack dog won't be enough to kill off Envon's posse down in the catacombs. I'll go and handle that, it's still in range so these two won't break out of their nightmare as easily."

"You do realize that this is how villains in those cute little smeet entertainment programs lose, right?" Shadow watched Rik go. "Keeping their enemy alive for the fun of it? Are you _looking_ to die? Just kill them."

"If the rescue team gets close, I leave the pleasure to you," Rik replied, checking a sword he had produced from his PAK. It was intricately designed, made of an alloy that not even he was allowed to know the name of. It was a gift from Shadow for his years of servitude to his rule...

And it had killed hundreds out of the countless who had fallen before the Irken Champion.

"I have more important matters than your grudge to worry about," Shadow walked past Rik without a glance. "Belthiad on the other hand..."

The bounty hunter produced a blade of his own and sat by the two unconscious Irkens. "I'll handle it if I hear gunfire close by."

"Good," Rik swung the sword once...slicing through the legs of a statue next to him. Grinning as the statue toppled and crumbled, Rik twirled the sword in his grasp once. "I have to find out how he makes these; they work better than any energy sword for cutting."

"Many have tried," Belthiad whispered, watching as Rik vanished through the doors.

Xxx

"Here he comes again!" The Fragment of Rik shouted, finally finishing setting up the trip wire he had been working on for the past ten minutes in addition to a number of traps. "Get over here already, and watch the wires!"

After exploring the dream palace-and avoiding the shadows the group had found another open door that led them into what should have been the kitchen area...only for it to become the city around the palace. It had been filled with heaps of skeletons, some of them arranged in a grotesque and macabre decoration. They were set out in poses, arranging scenes where sometimes they looked happy, sad, frightened...

Paneece was certain that if Gluttony caught up to her, her skeleton would be arranged in a pose where she looked like her last moments had been spent trying to look cute. Screaming, she rushed back in Rik's direction, leaping over the bones of large beasts or ducking through the empty rib cage of others while stumbling over a field of Irken skeletons. Behind her was a large, extremely deformed version of Rik with an elongated head, four thin eyes, massive mouth with rows of sharp teeth and a tongue that extended perhaps twenty feet from how she had measured it.

He was actually similar to her brother Hellion in a way thanks to his large claws for hands and feet. He opened his mouth, which somehow grew even larger. Paneece squeaked and tried to use her control of the dream world to her advantage. She threw herself forward, leaning forward until her feet were pointing up in the air while she grasped the ground.

When she finished the front flip, she had _dragged_ a barrier of stone out of the ground. Gluttony swallowed it in her place, or tried to; it was stuck in his massive mouth. Paneece, stumbling a bit kept on running towards Rik, who was on the main stairs leading up to the dream palace. He had hung red ribbons-again made by Paneece from the tripwires so Paneece would avoid them while Gluttony would run over them in his eager pursuit.

The Caterpillar meanwhile was moving off to the side, parallel to Paneece. Gluttony chomped down on his stone meal, breaking it into tiny shards. He licked dust off of his lower lips. "I eat bigger things as snacks!"

"Caterpillar, could I have a little help please?" Paneece shouted urgently as Gluttony once again began to close the distance between them.

"Uh...come on man think, you're a psychic you do this for a living!" The Caterpillar muttered as he focused. Something appeared behind Paneece, between her and Gluttony as the smaller Irken hopped over the first set of tripwires. Gluttony stopped, grinning at the sight of the animal before him as it reared back on its hind legs.

"That was your best idea?" Rik asked.

"It's bait!" The Caterpillar insisted. "Don't you remember the saying 'I'm so hungry I could eat a _horse_?'"

Then Gluttony was upon the poor animal, viciously biting into it as it whinnied and kicked to get away. The three Irkens stared in horror at the sight.

"Uh...maybe I should have made a horse _dummy,_" The Caterpillar swallowed.

"He's eating a horse," Rik stated.

"Yes, I can see that," Paneece groaned, a hand on her tummy. "Oh dear Irk..."

"He's _eating_ a horse,"

"Uh..." The Caterpillar turned away and slithered up the steps, going under the tripwires and stopping by Paneece's side. "Come on Panny, we have to keep moving."

"He's, eating, a, HORSE._"_

Gluttony stood up and belched. Surprisingly he was not fat from the meal; in fact he didn't look like he had gained a pound. He sighed, "Ah...next!"

Then he remembered the meal that had escaped him by using the horse as a distraction. Paneece paled, letting The Caterpillar lead her up the stairs-guiding her over the trip wires as they went. Gluttony's maw grew to a ridiculous size once again as saliva practically poured out of the butchered version of Rikalo. The liquid melted through the ground where it landed, leaving deep holes that must have gone down to the sewers-if this dream world replicated those also.

"**Dessert..."** Gluttony then charged forward right into the middle of the trip wires. With everyone he ran over, a pair of grenades went off on either side of him. His flesh was charred, burnt and eviscerated with each explosion, but the damage seemed to fix itself. The endless stomach on legs was ignoring the damage as though it were a minor bug bite!

He jumped into the air, and dove towards Rik. The Irken swore and rolled down the stairs, missing being eaten by inches as Gluttony crashed head first into the steps. It threw up a cloud of dust just as Rik used his PAK legs to stop his rough descent. He was consumed by the debris cloud, only to leap out of it and find himself inches from Gluttony's face. He fired a gun right into the carnivorous Rikalo's face, but it barely fazed him.

Rik barely avoided getting swallowed whole by throwing himself backwards. He rolled down the steps and was stopped by The Caterpillar. Looking up while trying to clear his vision, Rik frowned at the charging Gluttony. "This guy just won't go down!"

"I have a plan," The Caterpillar said quickly. "I'll hit him high, you and Panny attack from the sides. Let's cut him to pieces and see him come back from that!"

"Heh, are you sure you're a pacifist emperor?" Rik smirked as he got to his feet. "Alright, I'm game."

The Caterpillar curled his body until it was like a spring. All at once with a little telekinetic push he launched himself into the air and towards Gluttony, slamming into his torso and knocking him down as Rik and Paneece charged back up the stairs. Gluttony forced The Caterpillar off and tried to take a bite out of him, but the monocle wearing Irken twisted away and whipped the vicious eater in the side of the head.

By then Paneece got close enough and finished forming another sword. Unfortunately she was so agitated that she was unable to focus enough to make the blade strong enough to slice through Gluttony. The weapon shattered and Paneece stumbled past Gluttony. Luckily Rikalo was there and landed on Gluttony's shoulders. He jammed a blade of his own through the front of Gluttony's throat and leaped off.

Gluttony stumbled out, blood pouring from his mouth as he tried to remove the weapon. If it had been the real world Rik would have sliced right through the spinal cord, but in this dream world Gluttony was invulnerable to almost any attack. Wrath actually had the decency to die in a real fight...

"Wait..." Paneece grinned. "Guys, I've got it!"

"Please _share it!_" Rik insisted as he tried to stay out of Gluttony's claws.

"Wrath was killed in a fight because that was his theme: battle. What if we can only kill Gluttony by using his theme against him?" Paneece proposed, choosing to run back down the stairs when Gluttony turned his gaze on her next.

"Oh great, I'll just whip up some of my Cold Unfeelin' Robot Arm's special homemade soup, that'll do him in!" Rik grunted while trying to keep Gluttony's mouth-thankfully shrunk to a normal size from enveloping his head. Finally he jumped up over Gluttony's head and wrapped both arms around his neck. The eater snarled and thrashed like a wild animal in his effort to escape.

"Not soup," Paneece said as she shut her eyes, trying to think of the proper formula to create...

But Gluttony was after her again, still with Rik on his shoulders. "_Yum_, your skin's gonna be so silky smooth going down my throat!" He laughed, hands reaching.

"Whatever it is, hurry it along!" The Caterpillar insisted while wrapping himself around Gluttony's legs, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face. The Caterpillar and the Fragment of Rik did their best to keep the cannibal pinned down as Paneece knelt, muttering under her breath.

Though the words and terms in Irken would be hard to understand, the words meant the exact same thing as the following.

"Nitrogen...Hydrogen...Sodium Hypochlorite..." She whispered their Irken equivalent as she created something in a bucket...

It was a mix of what was simply Ammonia and Bleach.

Xxx

"What the hell is wrong with the ship?" BlackJack glanced at the kitchen appliances, which were turning on and off randomly. "Uh...radio's still operating?"

"_They are,"_ Credaran confirmed from down in the cargo hold. _"Whatever this is, it seems to only be affecting systems directly built into the ship. Peripheral machinery is unaffected."_

"Great," BlackJack stared at the high tech kitchen. "Say again why you let Loe take the time to hardwire your kitchen into the ship?"

"He needed somethin' to pass the time," Rik replied, fiddling with a panel next to the door leading to the secondary command center of the Ranger. "Ok...aw crap the manual release lever's busted, I'll have to open this bad boy old school style. BlackJack, go grab me a tool box from the Cargo Hold."

"On it," BlackJack held up the flashlight built into her new robotic arm. "I guess this thing is good for something."

"Wait until you get an up to date combat model," Rik called after her. "You'll never want to go back to your real arm again after a few days of using one of those!"

"I bet," BlackJack took one of the maintenance shafts that ran through the levels of the ship, since the elevator was out. She climbed down the narrow shaft, trying not to point her own arm's flashlight in her face. She opened the hatch at the bottom and stuck her arm out. "Hey Credaran, Rik needs a tool box for the door to the secondary command center, pass me one over."

There was no response and no tool box. BlackJack stuck her head out of the hatch. "Credaran, hand me the damn box already...Credaran?" She stepped out of the hatch and found the cargo bay to be dark and silent. Most of it was open and exposed but her flash light revealed little until the motion sensors registered her and activated the lights on their own.

"At least _that_ isn't hard wired into the ship," BlackJack deactivated her own light and set about looking for Credaran. "Lazy Veniran...where the hell did you-" She paused as her right foot felt like it was dipped into ice cold water. With a yelp she pulled back and looked at the floor ahead of her. It was dry but...it was pitch black, the shadow of a supply shelf...and it was _leaning_ towards her. A low groan was heard through the cargo bay, making BlackJack take out her pistol and activated her flash light. The shadow seemed to scatter like smoke in the wind just like that.

They all did except one...at the end of the cargo bay. It stood over a prone form, and after a moment BlackJack recognized Credaran. She aimed her gun at the humanoid figure that stood over the Veniran, who seemed unconscious if not at least unharmed. "Step away from him, whoever you are!"

Its head seemed to tilt up, and she felt a pair of eyes on her. It stepped over Credaran, not making a noise when its feet touched the metal floor whereas her boots left echoes for several moments with every step she took. "Put your hands up, do it now!"

It did not listen. As it got closer, the lights flickered and dimmed, even the one on her arm and pistol. Shapes on the floor moved out from the being, spreading out over the walls and ceiling until a massive pair of skeletal hands-or at least the shadows of said hands were poised to snatch BlackJack up.

"That's it!" She fired at the creature twice, her shots striking it but not blasting through it or causing any damage to the simple black figure that stood against the silver background of the wall behind it. It stopped several feet from her as she kept firing, only for her pistol to lose its charge after the eighth shot.

She lowered her pistol, staring at the creature in shock. "What...are you?"

It did not reply...

But its arms came up, and then it glided faster than a champion sprinter, reaching her before she even knew what was happening. She didn't know if it struck her or if it used something else to render her unconscious, but she had been knocked out within the blink of an eye.

Xxx

"So, you have a hold of Rikalo's ship?" The Alternate Rikalo looked eagerly to Shadow.

"Yes...my servant has done me well once again," Shadow nodded. "I will guide their ship down to the surface and take steps to make sure they do not leave. The Rikalo of this world shall be yours to deal with."

"Good...ah..." Rik put a hand on his head. "...something is happening; somehow those two are fighting the dream."

"A powerful psychic, and a highly intelligent girl who's father wrote the book on defending against mental attacks _resisting_ the will of one man? Oh _perish_ the thought," Shadow rolled his eyes. "If they wake up, I shall let Belthiad know to kill them without mercy."

"...you're one terrible liar," Rik shook his head. "Part of you wants them to get away because you hate the idea of hurting a woman who might be carrying."

Shadow's silence as good as answered Rik's accusation affirmatively. The gunslinger let out a loud, harsh, humourless laugh that made guards glance towards the conversation by the throne Shadow sat on. "The almighty feared Tallest Shadow has a soft spot for _smeets_ of all things...I should have guessed though from how relaxed your laws towards your own people are. If anybody joins you willingly they get a full benefit package and everything."

Shadow chuckled. "If I were not a good ruler, I would not be a true ruler. I fixed the problems that my predecessor Granta had left from his rule, stopped excess spending and waging ridiculous wars." He stroke one arm of the throne. "...did you know that when Granta used this place, this throne was made of gold? That the walls were draped with the most expensive of materials and paintings? He conquered seventeen planets to collect such wealth, and used what he could not stuff into his pockets or room to build a statue in his own honour the size of a small sky scraper."

"Sounds like a tool."

"My arrival heralded some welcomed changes..." Shadow shrugged. "I decided that happy subjects in a prosperous empire were better than sad ones in a dying empire like most Tallests operate. They think conquering another planet will solve everything, yet people see me as the greatest villain of all."

He shook his head. "So pardon me if I feel like drawing a line. You draw yours at any form of harm coming to you, while I draw it at harming smeets and pregnant women if I can avoid it."

"...you like these long winded speeches, don't you?"

"They make me sound dramatic," Shadow drawled. "Now get to the surface. Two Inquisitors will meet you there...along with several other assistants of mine."

"I don't want expendable troopers following me," Rik growled.

"Ah so instead you draw the line at my regular soldiers," Shadow sounded amused. "No, these will be far from expendable, trust me." As he spoke, several shapes lowered themselves down from the ceiling on PAK legs. They were Irkens, all of them...

After briefly examining each of them Rik couldn't help but smirk. "Alrighty, you've persuaded me...they'll do nicely."

"Some of them shall be going after the intruders you invited into the catacombs," Shadow added. "But do enjoy them while you have them under your command."

Oh Rikalo would most certainly do that.

Xxx

"Alright, we have precisely 96 different DNA samples! That will be more than enough to get several thousand smeets!" Zim rubbed his hands together eagerly as he stood before the fully functional smeetery he had supervised the construction of. It was nothing compared to the smeeteries of the Old Empire, which would span many miles under the surface of Irk. Instead this one had a dozen tanks for smeets to develop in.

"You there," Zim pointed at Volt, "Volt-Minion! Press the buttons! Press the buttons!"

"On it," Volt was so excited that he ignored Zim's attitude and began to input the command sequences for the Smeetery. The computer began to create stable DNA models for six male and six female smeets, succeeding within seconds.

"Pull the lever!" Zim declared.

Volt obeyed, pulling...the lever that controlled the lights.

"...after that last episode in the dark, I'd rather avoid dark places!" Ginia said in a higher pitched tone than normal as several of the dozens of Blue Imperial soldiers turned on their lights. Volt flicked the lights on, revealing that Ginia was holding onto a startled Phela tightly. Evidently the shadow creature's treatment of her had been less than pleasant to remember for her.

"Sorry about that," Volt pulled the proper lever-the one actually on the control console. The tanks were filled with green fluid while Zim laughed maniacally.

"Grow my beautiful smeets, grow!" The red eyed maniac watched as the smeetery-_his_ smeetery began the process of creating Irken life.

"Estimated time to successful artificial birth is three days," Volt said. "Congratulations Zim, you just saved the Irken race!"

Many soldiers thought they would never praise Zim's name sincerely, but here they stood cheering for the Irken who had brought the smeeteries back into existence. Zim actually blushed a bit from all the praise, waving back to the crowd and soaking up as much glory as he could. Lok stood towards the back of the room with Gaz.

"Who would have thought...Zim saving the Irken race," Lok muttered. "Seriously, I never saw that coming, I mean how does somebody like Zim go from nearly annihilating our whole civilization to restoring it?"

Gaz shrugged. "_Really_ dumb luck, that's how."

"Indeed," Lok nodded.

Xxx

Envon, Tak and Skullene had reached a room that seemed to ascend as they went further in. The parts they could see with their lights appeared to be in states of disrepair to the point that they often found themselves crossing narrow bridges that had once been parts of wide open floors. The roof was out of sight at the moment.

"Well we've ascended nearly half a mile from the room where we entered this place," Skullene glanced up from a screen her PAK was displaying in hologram form.

_Pft..._

They stopped.

"...did you both just hear that?" Envon asked, slowly drawing his gun out.

_Pffffft..._

"Definitely," Tak cautiously looked around. "Somebody is here."

Then there were footsteps ahead, coming towards them. Skullene reacted by swiftly drawing her own weapon and firing a single shot. It struck something, which howled as a hole was blasted through its chest. It was an IM, like the horde that Rik's team had encountered while rescuing Zim. However it seemed different from the weak and agile ones that had been seen before.

Its skin was darker and not as smooth, showing what looked like rows of scales. The head was elongated and oddly shaped in a way that made it angular, and had only two eyes. It was more muscular than its previous counterparts, and was standing up straight.

The lights of the three Irkens showed several more of these new IMs moving in from corners and down walls.

"Uh oh..." Skullene swallowed, "Any ideas?

"Here's one," Tak stared one of the IMs in the eyes as it walked towards her. It stopped and went limp before it turned on its nearest companion. It viciously tore the second creature's head off and moved on to attack the rest of its kin.

"I thought your empire abhorred violence," Envon raised a nonexistent eyebrow at Tak.

"Only if it is done for no reason or when there are other options," Tak replied as more IMs moved in. "Here they come!"

Envon and Skullene were ready for them. They fired their guns with one hand while reaching or another weapon with their free hands.

The once peaceful temple was becoming a battleground.

Yet still there was the hidden watcher who kept on making those farting noises with his hands and mouth. He was obviously not taking this very seriously judging from both his actions and the immature grin on his face...showing teeth stained from countless encounters with blood of all kind from human to Vortian or Planet Jacker...even Irken blood.

Yes, plenty of Irken blood too.

Xxx

End of chapter

Too tired to put an Omake up right now.


	24. Damnation Arc, Fight in the Abyss P1

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

Xxx

Rik kicked Gluttony in the face, using the force built up from the movement to back flip out of range as Gluttony blindly reached for him. Rik leaped into the air, flipping over forwards and slamming the heel of one foot into the back of his alternative version's head. Gluttony hit the ground face first and was back up as Rik landed. The gunslinger nervously formed his pistols once again. "Panny, I'd really appreciate it if you could finish up with that plan of yours!"

He backpedaled, firing at Gluttony in an effort to slow them down. Then Gluttony's claws swung low and knocked Rik's feet out from under him. Luckily he managed to swing a leg up and kicked Gluttony in the side of the face to knock him off balance when he tried to lean down and take a bit out of Rik's neck. Rik rolled backwards over one shoulder and looked to Paneece and The Caterpillar as they held up something...

A tray with a large lid over it, and both of them wore white aprons as though they were working in a gourmet restaurant. Paneece, who also wore a chef's hat waved one hand and winked. "Yoo hoo, we've got a free...uh..."

"Chicken," The Caterpillar whispered to her.

"We've got a free chicken up for grabs!" Paneece finished as they held the tray high.

Gluttony stopped feet from Rik and sniffed the air as The Caterpillar took the lid off of the tray, revealing a glistening, cooked chicken that gave out a scent which made even Rik hungry-though he like most Irkens learned how such greasy meat reacted to Irken bodies. Gluttony unfortunately was safe from such a death. He dove forward and snatched the chicken up, viciously ripping it apart with his jaws.

Taking off their aprons and hats, Paneece and The Caterpillar stood by Rik and watched the rather messy table manners being shown by Gluttony. The fragment looked at his companions. "Seriously? Please tell me you slipped poison into that."

"Nope," Paneece shook her head. "We slipped in something a lot worse than ordinary poison."

"He's eating his own weight in ammonia and bleach!" The Caterpillar added. "Most species' anatomies automatically process the stuff out of the body. But Gluttony absorbs food too fast if I'm right. That means that there's only one way to get the toxins out of him."

Gluttony's stopped, holding a chunk of meat in one hand and chewing on some more...and then his eyes bugged out. He vomited a stream of fluids and objects that he had devoured over what might have been years in this dreamscape. There were gallons of blood included, and parts of the poor imaginary horse that The Caterpillar had created earlier.

"Ew..." Paneece put a hand over her mouth and turned away, The Caterpillar rubbing her back with one hand.

"Holy hell, he's vomiting up everything but the kitchen sink!" Rik stared at the slowly shrinking form of Gluttony. "How'd you get him to scarf that whole thing down so fast?"

"I added cherry stuffing," The Caterpillar admitted. "Your favourite, I assumed he would have that taste also."

"Well hot damn, you remembered!" Rik nodded. "And your favourite ice cream flavour is still cotton candy."

"Yes," The Caterpillar blushed a bit. "I still can't get enough of-"

"Please stop talking about food!" Paneece whined, trying to block out the gargling noises Gluttony made as he sat on his knees, slumped over and his flesh sagging, hanging from his skeleton's frame.

The Caterpillar slithered over and held Gluttony up. The carnivore was wheezing, weakly trying to get free. The Caterpillar held him by the neck. "This is mercy, believe me."

And then he snapped Gluttony's neck. Sufficiently weakened by the chicken, Gluttony did not regenerate from this fatal wound. The Caterpillar dropped the corpse, which turned into a brittle stone and crumbled into dust. "This one was clearly the stupidest. Good thing he was only thinking with his stomach."

"Well I told you before we met him, this guy was the worst of the ones we have to fight," Rik shrugged. "Two down, five more to go."

"Why are these seven modelled after the seven sins anyways?" The Caterpillar asked.

"They represent the worst of the worst," Rik replied. "Like virtues represent the best of Rik, these seven are his worst. Wrath was his blood thirst, Gluttony was...you know, and if I'm right then the next one will be his arrogance." As he spoke, the area was replaced with the interior of the dream palace. "I know where Pride's door is, follow me."

Xxx

BlackJack was awakened by a hand gently brushing her face. Her eyes shot open and she grabbed her assailant, only to see that it was Janie, who had been applying something to her flesh. Seeing the frightened look in Janie's eyes, she released the younger woman's wrist. "What happened and where are we?"

She shielded her eyes against the surrounding light with one hand until her vision cleared. During that time Janie applied a band aid to her face and explained. "I don't know; I was in the medical bay with De Rien looking for some flashlights when suddenly...I was tackled and I woke up a few miles from here." She shut the medical kit next to her. "I found you and moved you out of the sun, whoever hit you must have done it harder than they did to me."

BlackJack slowly examined their surroundings. They were sitting under an arch of rock in the middle of a bright sunny day...in a desert. It was not an Erg, which was made up of large seas of sand and massive sand dunes; but a Hamada desert, a barren wasteland that was mostly flat and had a rocky surface. They were in an area where hills were forming right at the edge of said wasteland.

"Holy shit..." BlackJack groaned as she stood up. She saw her weapons lying in a pile along with two packs, one of which was opened and had medical supplies inside. "Did you have these on you when you were on the ship?"

"No, I just found the one with medical supplies next to me," Janie shook her head. "I think we just got stranded."

Stepping out from under the arch, BlackJack opened a slot in her PAK and extended a thin antenna out of it while a cable with a camera on the tip came out of a side slot. She pointed the camera tipped cable upwards while taking in information, both visual and otherwise. Since it was a clear day it was a simple matter for her to run a scan of the stars, something that the normal Irken eye could not do during the day. She was not willing to wait until nightfall set in and the burning hot desert became blistering cold. "...if this data matches up with the nav-data from the Ranger, we're on the planet we were supposed to land on in the first place."

"Why would somebody dump us here?" Janie asked.

"Easy guess: to play a game with us before they try to kill us," BlackJack hefted her rifle from the pile and grabbed the rest of her arsenal. "You can fight, right?"

"I was practicing ever since Rik picked me up on Murderworld," Janie nodded, taking a carbine that was among the pile and shouldered her PAK. "Do you think the others will be nearby?"

"I think we'll have better luck finding out if we go and look for them instead of sitting here and waiting to freeze to death at night," BlackJack glanced at the sloping rocks. "...which way did you come from?"

"From the flats," Janie replied. "But I went scouting in these hills before I found you, there's a valley that looked promising. I passed a few shallow rivers and if I'm right they lead down into the valley. That might be our best bet."

"That'a girl," BlackJack nodded in approval for Janie's initiative. "Now I know why Rik has the hots for you."

"Had," Janie corrected her before she began to lead the way through the narrow paths of the hills. "He's back with his wife now."

"Still has the hots for you," BlackJack mumbled, following behind her.

Xxx

Rik was in a dried out river bed when he woke up, thanks to a small rodent trying to nibble at his leg. He kicked it away and sat up, puzzled by the sudden change of location. He still had his weapons...and in fact there was a whole pack of weapons next to him. Standing up, he climbed out of the river bed and looked around at the endless distance that reached out in every direction except for where the ground rose several dozen feet to the west.

"Awwwww hell," Rik sat down, head in his hands. "I can't believe it; I got kidnapped from my own damn ship." Glancing up, he examined the slope to the west and then went back for the bag of weapons. Sealing and carrying it, he began his trek towards the slope. Luckily whoever had abandoned him had left him some containers of fluid from the ship's kitchen along with his flask of 'personal brand' alcohol...though he hadn't had any since he had picked up Janie on Murderworld. It would only make him more parched if he drank it, so he stuck to the nutrition fluids.

Reaching the slope, Rik climbed up to the top and shielded his eyes against the sun as he looked at the region below... "Holy..."

THOOM! Rik fell backwards, arms flailing as something shot past his head. He rolled back down the hill a bit, but managed to right himself and then pulled his collapsible rifle from the bag. He extended it to its full form and checked the energy cells within. Satisfied, he reached the top and dove over the top.

Two more shots sent up shards of rock as they landed near him. He rolled down into the area within what was essentially a large square outline surrounding a structure the size of a small castle. Each side of the square must have been several miles wide, and made perhaps years ago with dirt from where the castle now sat, as the ground on the interior side of the handmade slopes was much lower than the ground on the outside.

The grounds between the slope and the structure were littered with the ruins of smaller buildings that couldn't have been more than cheap shacks. It was a small village surrounding an immense walled fortress. The shooter was in the village itself on a roof. Rik moved down the slope as quickly as possible, hearing shots land near him. He kept his movements erratic and randomly changed directions to throw the sniper off.

Reaching the bottom, Rik threw himself against the nearest shack's wall and knelt, his rifle in hand. A flick of his thumb had a scope slide out of the top of the frame with a high pitched _whir_. Rik kept himself up close to the wall as he moved to his left and rounded a corner into the narrow alleys between the small building remnants. He kept his rifle aimed ahead and angled upwards at the roof tops in case the sniper changed positions and tried to shoot him while he passed by.

THOOM! A shell blew a hole in a wall ahead of Rik, who scrambled back and took a turn into an even thinner passage that led him out onto a wide open street. He saw the sniper then, standing up with a heavy, primitive looking rifle in hand. It wore the robes of an Inquisitor! Of course, only an Inquisitor could wear black in the middle of a desert without dying of heat stroke and carry a rifle that looked like t was too much for Rik to carry with both hands.

The Inquisitor hefted the rifle, holding it in a way that it pointed upwards with the stock resting against the inner side of his elbow joint. He held it with only one hand. "Rikalo 'Rik', welcome to Planet Shauya."

"Aw crap!" Rik raised his rifle and emptied three bursts into the Inquisitor, who did not even flinch as plasma rounds tore through him. Instead he casually jumped down to Rik's level and tossed his oversized rifle aside.

"You killed two of my colleagues on Purgatau," The Inquisitor said as he calmly stared at the gunslinger. "I was watching from a nearby building, one of your team set up a dust cloud that made it too difficult to render assistance." He took off his gloves. "But...it's just you and me now, and I'm not going to fool around like those two did."

This was the Third Inquisitor from Purgatau!

He unbuttoned the heavy coat he wore, tossing it aside and leaving himself in a sleeveless shirt, pants, and bare feet. He tilted his neck to either side until he heard a satisfying pop, and then suddenly shot forward. He slammed into Rik before he could fire off more than a single burst, which did not even slow the Inquisitor down. He threw Rik's rifle off, letting it land among the ruins nearby and punched Rik right in the face. He grabbed Rik by the collar of his shirt and tried to pull him back for another blow before Rik swung his right leg up, planting his foot in the Inquisitor's elbow joint, stopping the attack.

Using the Inquisitor's arm for leverage, Rik swung his other leg up and jammed his knee into his opponent's jaw. Several teeth flew out along with some droplets of blood as the Inquisitor released him. Spitting out several more teeth, the Inquisitor opened his mouth. Rik was given a front row seat to watching the teeth literally grow back into place before his very eyes.

"It's just you and me," The Inquisitor repeated. "My name is Inquisitor Galla, and you will **die** for your crimes against my Tallest."

He started forward, intent on taking Rik at close range where he was at a disadvantage against the stronger Inquisitor. Rik tried to initiate a first strike by lunging forward with his right arm moving in a vicious haymaker, but Galla caught the blow with one arm and casually head butted Rik in the face hard enough to knock him on his back. While scrambling back and trying not to fall over all over again, Rik felt one of his teeth hanging loosely in his mouth. He grabbed and yanked it out without so much as flinching and looked at the bloodstained tooth.

"Oh great," He held the tooth up and lightly tossed it in Galla's face, "Now I need a florpin' dentist, thanks a lot."

"You'll need a miracle from the gods after this is over," Galla replied, wiping a tiny globule of blood off of his forehead where the tooth had bounced off. Rik rushed forward before he finished this gesture, tugging a knife from his boot and slicing outwards with his right hand. This only left a shallow cut on Galla's body, as the Inquisitor had stepped back just barely within range of the attack. Rik flipped the knife into a reversed grip and sliced to the left while aiming higher. After missing entirely, his arm was grabbed by Galla and wrenched back. With a grunt of pain Rik held the knife he had drawn from his belt in his other and twisted clockwise, jamming it up to the hilt into Galla's flesh.

The Inquisitor flinched, clenching his teeth together and throwing Rikalo across the street into a wall. He slid down as Galla tugged the knife out from between two of his ribs. He snapped the metal blade between two of his fingers. "At least you are putting up a fight; most others would flee or beg without even so much as trying."

Rik suddenly leaped to his feet and rushed Galla, stopping short when Galla tried to catch him with a round house kick. Rik leaned back to avoid it and swung a foot of his own out, hooking it around the knee of the leg that Galla put all of his weight on and tugging hard. Galla fell off balance, and a shove from Rik knocked him down. The red eyed Irken took this chance to rush over to a convenient pile of rubble and scrambled up to the roof of a low building as Galla climbed to his feet.

"And those who did not flee fought foolishly or desperately, like an animal rushing in front of a vehicle when they try to run away from it." Galla mused before leaping into the air and landing in front of Rik just as he reached the top. Galla gave him a kick to the chin that sent him tumbling back down the pile and landing him in the dirt all over again.

This definitely was not going to be a matter of shooting Galla enough times like it had been with the other Inquisitors. Rik pushed himself up as Galla landed next to him again, ready to strike a blow. Rik swung his leg out in a sweep kick and swept Galla's feet out from under him. He placed his hands on the ground next to his head and flipped back onto his feet, following up by back flipping away when Rik tried to tackle him.

"You'll have to move faster than that, Rikalo!" Galla called, surprisingly not a hint of mockery in his tone. He leaped through the air, twisting and flipping in a way that made it impossible for Rik to figure out what his next attack would be until one bare foot struck him in the right shoulder. The attack staggered him and nearly knocked him to his knees as Galla pushed back off and landed perfectly. His movements would have made an expert acrobat green with envy.

But Rik was not so slow himself. He dashed forward and then slid feet first towards Galla, slamming both feet into his gut and crotch. Galla grunted in pain and grabbed Rik by both of his legs, swinging him around and then right against a wall. Rik gasped as the breath was knocked out of him by the impact. As Galla tried to raise him off the ground to use as a club again Rik drew one of his pistols and fired point blank into the arm holding his right leg.

Galla let go of it as the shot burned through bone and muscle, not that it would slow him down for long. Rik pulled his other foot free and fired again and again, but Galla leaped up onto the roof of the building he had hit with Rik moments ago and vanished from view. Rik climbed to his feet and took deep breaths as he held his pistol with both hands.

"_Rik!_" a shout drew his attention towards the top of the slopes that he had crossed not but five minutes ago. De Rien stood at the top with her battle staff unfolded as she slid down to join the fight. Rik felt relieved to know that she was unharmed, but moments later Galla had returned. The Inquisitor's first attack missed Rik's skull by inches.

Ducking under the second strike gave Rik an opening he took by driving a fist up towards Galla's face. But the Irken's neck bent backwards much too far for it to be normal. His spine should have snapped at such an angle yet it seemed to be a natural pose for the Inquisitor. While Rik stared the Inquisitor's knee hit him in the collar bone and knocked him back while his head corrected itself. "Not a good idea to get surprised in the middle of a fight, Rikalo."

"Not a good idea to hit my husband, _freak!_" The edge of De's staff slammed into Galla's side and gave Rik time to land the uppercut he had missed before to the Inquisitor's jaw. Both Irkens faced the Shadow Irken as he straightened himself up and relaxed his stance. Rik and De faced him with a machete and staff respectively.

"Well this wasn't planned," Galla said thoughtfully. "But it sure is interesting none the less."

Rik and De rushed him at once with a battle cry. Galla flexed his hands, turning them into claws. He took a defensive stance rather than charging blindly to meet them. He was obviously far more focused than the usually violent and brutish Inquisitors encountered before who would attempt to bash and slice their opponents without a strategy.

De swung.

Rik stabbed.

And Galla swung.

Xxx

The final IM fell to Envon's gun, but it was Skullene's boot to its neck and a quick twist that ended its life. The Monarch had forced perhaps a dozen of them to kill one another with the psychic amplifier she apparently shared with the Tak native to this universe. The blue clad Tallest looked for the source of whoever was still making the farting noises. "...Skullene; up high. Can you hit him?"

"I had to teach Rine to do _something_ after he got too good with chores," Skullene produced her pistol again and carefully lined it up with the source of the noise. It stopped just as she rested her sights on a figure crouched on a ledge overlooking their floor.

**TSEW!**

The blast lit up the area where Skullene had aimed. But when it struck the shape had seemingly vanished into thin air. Skullene was now searching every dark corner she could find. "I swear, nowadays all of our enemies have an obsession with the dark."

When the sound of metal against metal caused all three to pause it was Tak who found the source. She turned just as a figure shoved past her and went right for Skullene. Luckily Envon unfolded one of his PAK legs and snagged it on the assailant's legs. The figure-which held a sword in one hand, went plummeting to the ground only to flip forwards onto his feet without even stopping. Skullene never managed to fire a shot off before the assailant sliced the barrel of her pistol off.

The energy core within was now going critical. Skullene wisely tossed it over a nearby edge and heard it detonate below as she engaged the attacker at close range. She had to side step and twist out of the way of multiple attacks from the swordsman before she managed to reach for a weapon of her own. Envon tried to rush in to help and almost had a knife thrown into his ribs to dissuade him and Tak. The Monarch could not take control of the swordsman-who now had a second sword out.

This one was smaller than the first; it was more curved and better for slashing with. Skullene's weapon was actually a short blade that slipped out from under the right sleeve of the dark blue coat she had chosen to wear. She brought out a knife in her left hand to level the playing field and fight off both of her opponent's blades at once. The swordsman launched himself into the air while twisting counter clockwise and nearly scored a kick to Skullene's face. She crossed both forearms in front of her head protectively and redirected the kick.

No sooner than when her opponent landed did he move again. He was constantly twisting and slicing at her in a never ending dance that she was barely able to keep up with. By then more IMs were rushing out into the open and engaged Envon and Tak. None of them attempted to harm Skullene as she fought the masked swordsman. After managing to block Skullene's attempt to slice through the meat of his thigh the swordsman leaped into the air and landed back on the ledge where he had been hiding.

"You're not getting away from me that easily," Skullene muttered before she used all four of her PAK legs to launch herself over several IMs who tried to get in her way. She landed behind the swordsman with her PAK legs already folded back up.

"Damn," The swordsman chuckled as he stood up and faced Skullene, twirling the two swords in his hands effortlessly. He had a relaxed tone and pose. Slowly Skullene saw more of him in the glow of the green light orb now hanging from her wrist. "You're good, chicky. They weren't lying when they told me that you make a wild lioness look tame."

Skullene vaguely understood the reference to the earth feline. She examined the swordsman from head to toe as he removed his mask: merely a red tuque with a pair of sun glasses over the eyes. It covered pale blue hair that stuck out in a mess and yellow orbs for eyes. His skin was covered in bright blue fur that clashed with the breezy red shorts and tuque. His feet were balled and seemed to always be shifting ever so slightly as though he were planning to sprint in any direction.

The odd creature replaced the tuque for a red fabric that he secured around the top of his head as a bandanna. Then he cracked his knuckles and examined Skullene. "Yep babe, if you weren't known for makin' eunuchs out of dudes, I'd probably feel sad for doin' all this."

"Who are you?" Skullene pointed her arm mounted blade at the creature. "More specifically _what_ are you?"

"The name is Frequency, little missy," The blue furred alien said before he dashed forward, seeming to glide through the air. Skullene brought her arm up and deflected his flying hook kick before ducking under his larger sword. She straightened up and parried his smaller one away with her arm blade while jabbing at him with her knife. He leaped back and was coming right back at her before she could blink.

Parrying another slice, she grabbed Frequency by the am and twisted clockwise. She released Frequency's arm and sent him flying, only for him to turn in mid air and land expertly on his feet. "Ooh, nice one!" He began to exchange blows with her again. They forced one another back and forth with a series of slices, kicks, and stabs.

Finally Skullene got a minor hit in to his right bicep and caused the warrior to retreat. Frequency gave his wound a single glance and then went right back to trying to overcome Skullene's defences. He leaped over her and landed behind her where her tried to sweep her legs out from under her...more like slice them off at the knee with his sword. Skullene leaped over the blade and slammed both feet into his shoulders. They stumbled away from one another.

"Why are you working with Shadow?" Skullene demanded.

Frequency simply shrugged and flashed a toothy grin to her. "It's all just good business, babe. A bounty hunter has to earn a living somehow, right? Now enough talk, en garde!"

Xxx

End of chapter

**TRANSLATIONS**

**Shauya=Abyss**

**Now...I understand that having a lot of characters in a story makes it confusing. So I have elected to put up a list of groups based on their locations and parts in the story. I'll only use this when focusing on multiple plotlines. After this arc things will focus more on a few different characters or groups.**

Group 1: Rikalo, De Rien, Janie, BlackJack, Credaran, Kronos, Elay

Group 2: Envon, Tak, Skullene

Group 3: Tenn, Rine, Drosco

Group 4: Grim, Skoodge

Group 5: Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment

Group 6: Zim, Gaulia, Ginia, Phela, Volt, Lok, Gaz


	25. Damnation Arc, Fight in the Abyss P2

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

Xxx

De Rien swept one end of her staff up and cracked it against one of Galla's hands after dodging a blow from the Inquisitor. The bone was visible until it suddenly snapped back into place and vanished under the skin, which healed just as quickly. She charged after him and jabbed once at his stomach and then adjusted the positions of her hands while flipping the staff over and then swinging at his neck. He twisted out of the way of the first attack and ducked under the second one; he seemed to intentionally move so that the weapon just barely missed him as a way to taunt De.

Rik attacked from the right with a punch to the side of Galla's head while coming down from a jump. Galla moved into the blow and smirked when he saw Rik recoil in pain. "Yeah, I know my bones are strong. Did you break just one finger or all of them?"

"None," Rik snapped his leg up and kicked Galla in the neck hard enough to knock him back. De Rien pressed the attack with a strike to the back of Galla's left knee and then to the side of his head when he lost balance. The Inquisitor leaned to the right and performed a cartwheel flawlessly despite having taken three serious blows within the span of two seconds. He stood up and caught De's staff with one hand.

He tore the weapon from her hands and swung it about to use against her. But Rik struck out at his side and took the staff to his gut for his effort. Galla swept Rik's feet out from under him with one end of the staff and then hit De across the face as she tried to rush to her husband's aid. She was left temporarily stunned from the blow and knocked on her side.

"You're both running out of steam now," Galla stated, tossing the staff aside and picking Rik up by the throat. "I'll end it then."

He reared back one claw with the aim to finish this quickly.

DOW!

A small shell tore through the arm that held Rik and caused Galla to drop him with a curse. He turned to look at the new shooter and saw Kronos standing with his feet slightly apart, a gun held professionally with both hands. Galla cleared the distance between himself and the psychic n the blink of an eye; Kronos barely had enough time to teleport out of the way. Unfortunately Galla caught him when he reappeared by using a shimmer in the air that foreshadowed the hybrid's re-emergence into the physical world.

A single blow to the ribs doubled Kronos over. A second hit to the face dislocated his jaw entirely with fury fueling Galla's actions. With a huff the Inquisitor stepped away from the now downed hybrid and faced Rik. By then the gunslinger had gotten up and swung a rock at Galla's face. It hit before Galla could react and unbalanced him to the point of making him fall to one knee. Rik followed up by thrusting his foot against the side of Galla's skull and knocked the Inquisitor down.

"Well, here I thought you wouldn't be getting up from that," Galla stood up in time to see Rik grab De Rien's staff. With a growl Rik promptly struck Galla across the face and then repeated this. Each blow knocked Galla back a step or two-but had yet to make him so much as whimper. Finally he caught the staff again...and _snapped_ the weapon in half.

Rik gaped at the sight of his wife's treasured weapon. "Aw man De's gonna kill me."

"Before or after I'm done?" Galla asked before grabbing Rik by the jacket collar and hurling him overhead. Rik landed on his back and had the breath knocked out of him by the harsh landing. The two halves of the staff fell from Rik's grasp.

DOWDOW! Two more bullets buried themselves into Galla, compliments of Kronos. The hybrid was trying to rise to his feet, blood pouring from his mouth in thin streams as he just barely held his gun up. Galla grabbed one of the halves of De's staff and flung it through the air. Kronos teleported out of the way again and reappeared to the left in the middle of rushing right at Galla. When the Inquisitor charged him Kronos teleported again; this time he reappeared in the middle of a jump that planted both feet into Galla's chest.

The impact knocked them both down. Rik rushed in before Galla could take revenge on Kronos and tackled him around the waist as he got up. He slammed Galla into a wall just before De Rien came in carrying Rik's discarded machete. With a battle cry she drove the blade down into the area between his right shoulder and his neck. That cut right through the Irken equivalent of the scapula...

(For anybody who has no idea what the hell that is, it's a bone that connects your arms to your body; in fact the _only_ bone connecting your arms to your body.)

Galla groaned in pain as one of his arms went limp and quickly shoved Rik away with his good arm. But De wrenched on the blade and snapped it off near the hilt; this left most of the machete buried in Galla's skin and coming out through his arm pit. Blood poured from the exit wound the blade left. Galla growled at the three combatants and leaped up onto the nearest roof. "Very good, you're the best I've faced yet!"

Oddly enough he sounded sincere. He had a smile on his face and seemed to be admiring the trio. He grasped his right arm. "Nobody has ever put me through my paces like this; nor have they ever damaged me so."

He tightened his grip on his bad arm. "I look forward to facing you again," With that he wrenched on his arm.

CRACK-SPLSH!

De Rien gasped in horror as Galla tore his whole right arm off, showering blood down on the trio. The Inquisitor removed the blade from his arm pit; the task was much easier to accomplish now. He dropped the length of sharpened metal as the flow of blood slowed to a trickle. "Perhaps my Tallest finally made one mistake: in letting you live when his pet could have slaughtered you so easily."

"His pet..." De Rien realized what Galla spoke of. "It was that thing that attacked us on the Ranger!"

"Indeed," Galla nodded, not visibly bothered by the fact that he only had one arm now. "I will tell you of it...he has permitted me to do that much. The shadow that you saw was perhaps the one thing more dangerous than I and the other Inquisitors who serve Shadow. It cannot be harmed by way of blade, gun, or most of other methods. It is not truly sentient, yet it is more alive than any machine you will ever meet. What is more," He bowed his head as though in prayer. "It is created entirely from my Tallest himself. It is as good as any prince would be to a king."

"That thing...was his son?" De whispered.

"By definition, yes," Galla stood up. "I shall speak no more of it now. Instead I will show you something."

Something was forming on the stump of his right arm...and grew outwards.

"No way..." Rik watched as the mass formed into an exact replica of the badly damaged appendage that Galla had chosen to abandon. He flexed the new limb, testing his wrist and fingers. "Total regeneration...?"

"This is the gift given to those who follow Tallest Shadow," Galla said. "The gift to his enemies is a quick death, unless they happen upon an Inquisitor."

Then he was gone in the blink of an eye. Kronos let out a muffled groan to get their attention moments later.

"De, help me out over here!" Rik eased Kronos down into a sitting position. "Easy there Kronos, we'll get you all fixed up."

Xxx

"The first Smeetery Transport has arrived, sir." One of the Blue Imperial Irken soldiers informed Zim. "And the tech drones have designed their onboard storage tanks to accommodate the smeets."

"Good! Have Zim's smeets loaded and send them where ever your Tallest has decided," Zim said.

"Uh...so we send them to New Irk then, sir?"

"Yes, I said where your Tallest decided; so go and do it!" Zim waved a hand, gesturing for the soldier to leave before facing Gaulia, Ginia and Phela. "Where is Zim's new assistant? Zim needs a work-slave in order to build!"

"They sent your precious assistant on the transport," Gaulia patiently explained to the maniac. "He is a new addition to the Blue Empire, but Tallest Envon has promised that he is very much experienced in the necessary areas for assisting in construction and research. Mostly he is just a communications officer though."

"And...?" Zim motioned for her to tell him more.

Gaulia sighed. "...he's _tall._"

"Excellent!" Zim grinned while wringing his hands. "Only one as tall as Zim can serve so close to such ingenuity!"

"Yeah, ingenuity," Ginia mumbled sarcastically.

The doors to Zim's private office slid open with a _hiss_. An Irken clad entirely in green strolled in with a small smile on his face. He stopped and saluted. "Senior Communications Officer Irken _Nick_ reporting."

"Nick? What kind of name is that?" Zim demanded. "Waaaait...Zim recognizes you."

"You should, I had to pick up all of your calls to Red and Purple whenever you called them," Nick replied. "I gotta admit I thought I'd never see or hear from you again."

"But of course you would! Zim cannot be destroyed!" Zim declared as he reclined in his chair and set his feet on his new desk. "Now, Zim needs an antenna trimming," He leaped onto his desk and struck one of his signature dramatic poses. "For it has been _**yeeears...!**_" He sat back down. "Since Zim had one from an actual Irken, the Gaz-Slave accidently tore the tips off once!"

"Actually Zim...I'm not going to trim your antennae for you," Nick sighed.

"Huh?" Zim blinked. "But you're my assistant! You're supposed to, it's what assistants do!"

"Yeah, about that..." Senior's right arm shot out and tossed something at the three sister Irkens. As they leaped to their feet the object released a net that pinned them all down and released a shock that caused them all to scream before collapsing entirely. Then Nick withdrew a pistol and aimed at Zim.

BANG!

He made a big gaping hole right through the fancy hovering chair and the wall behind it, but Zim had already scrambled under his desk. Senior frowned and adjusted his aim to try and track the panicking Irken. Zim activated his PAK legs and blasted wildly through the desk. This resulted in Nick being showered with bits of metal. He kept his cool and fired again at Zim while tracking his movements along the wall where Zim scurried with the use of his PAK legs.

Somehow the red eyed Irken kept ahead of him-a feat that few could accomplish. Nick thought in the back of his head that he was either out of practice or Zim had gotten a lot faster over the decades.

"Help! Security! Come and save your master!" Zim demanded as he banged on the door.

BANG!

Zim let out a wail as one bullet successfully struck him in the right arm. He collapsed to the floor; his PAK legs moving erratically as he whimpered in pain. However somebody had heard...

Xxx

Mere moments ago...

Gaz passed an Irken soldier who was cursing under his breath. There was something about a 'midget with an overinflated ego' involved somewhere in the rant. Though she had hardware built into her to translate Irken and many other languages Gaz had chosen to deactivate them so she could feel slightly less like a walking Google Translator. She immediately chose to forget the infuriated Irken soldier and continued on towards Zim's office to finally talk about getting her a ride back to Earth.

She entered the reception room that separated her from Zim's office and ignored the two guards standing by the outer door. Oddly they did not try to stop her-Zim would yell at them later for letting her through. She stopped by the inner door and passed her hand over the palm scanner next to it, having learned how to use them during her time with the Irkens. Nothing happened.

Her impatience got the best of her and she passed her hand back and forth over the scanner. She looked down at it and saw that it was not even on-if it was it would be giving out a green glow. Her brow furrowed as she turned and addressed the guards. "Hey, the door isn't working. Can you help me out here?"

The guards were nonresponsive. Gaz stormed over to them and shook one furiously by the arm. "Hey! Did you hear me? Help me get the door op-" The guard collapsed to the ground. "...en?"

She checked the other guard, taking off his helmet and saw his green eyed open. They tracked her movement, showing that he was still alive. She activated her optical augments and scanned the two Irkens. They were alive, but they had a device attached to their PAKs that left them immobile.

That soldier coming out either was the one who did it or he never noticed...

_Bang!_

Gaz may have been free of her programming but she still reacted as quickly as she would have before Rik had freed her of Zim's control. She flexed her right arm and a mental command went to the armour she still wore over the featureless skin tight body suit. A blade shot out of a slot in the dark red armour. Another command began to heat the blade up immensely as Gaz twisted on the spot and dashed towards the doors.

"UrrrrraaAHHHH!" She let out a battle cry as she swung downwards. The blade sliced clean through the metal and she practically flew through the then weakened door way and into Zim's office. She had barely missed bisecting Zim with her entry, luckily missing the Irken by inches. Another Irken, taller than her and with green eyes stood in the middle of the office. He looked surprised by her entry but did not lower his gun.

"Gazlene Membrane...so that's what happened to you," Nick nodded. "When did you care so much about Zim?"

"I don't," Gaz hissed as her helmet slid up from the collar section of her armour and covered her whole head. "_But if anybody is going to kill him, then it'll be me after I get back to Earth!_"

"And this grudge is why you charged in so quick-" Nick darted back when Gaz swung the superheated arm blade. "I don't want to fight you Gazlene. You're not my target; Zim is."

"When do Envon's Irkens start turning into hit men? You're all usually so goody goody and 'we fight for the liberation of the galaxy'," Gaz mocked.

"I don't take pleasure in doing this," Nick shook his head as they both circled one another. "But I have to."

"Of course," Gaz nodded. "You're so innocent."

Then she substituted her arm blade for an arm mounted gun that fired a powerful burst of plasma at Nick. He unfolded his PAK legs when he saw her raising her arm and formed a square shaped shield of pink energy that deflected the shot into the ceiling. The result was an explosion that sent all three occupants of the room-not counting the three unconscious Irkens in the stun net flying against the walls-except for Nick. The green eyed Irken was hurled against Zim's desk and used the momentum to roll behind it.

He reloaded the rather primitive hand gun he held by pushing a cylinder out from the main body. He emptied four spent shells from the weapon, leaving two yet to be fired. He reached into his belt and slid four new cartridges in to the cylinder before firing at Gaz through the desk. The combat programs still imprinted in her mind provided Gaz with a strategy every second or two. One being activating another component of her armour: a shield projector built into her shoulder guards.

She had activated the left one and knelt. She curled in on herself and let the shield deflect the projectiles into the walls and partially melted ceiling. Zim crawled to an area behind Gaz so as not to be at risk of being caught by a ricocheting bullet. After his third shot, Nick drew a second revolver and leaped over the desk. Gaz stood up and activated another of the many weapons that Zim had added to her when he had turned her into his cyborg bodyguard/assassin.

This one was called a Kinetic Force Gun; instead of lasers it used telekinetic force-minus the supernatural source to violently send enemies flying. It was built into the right upper arm component. She activated it just before Senior fired, and the bullet whizzed by the shooter's head before he was sent flying back with it. He managed to flip in mid air and land on his feet as Gaz deactivated the KF Gun.

"Hands off the midget," She said, opening one amber eye and glaring at Nick. The green eyed Irken reached into his PAK and produced a new device that looked like a shuriken of some kind. He threw the star shaped weapon at Gaz; the cyborg girl easily caught it on the thicker part of one gauntlet and plucked it out. "Is that all you've got?"

"No and neither is _this,_" Nick held up a remote and tapped one of the buttons on it.

Immediately electricity ran from the not so ordinary shuriken and into Gaz. She cried out as it made sparks fly from her. Though she and her systems were undamaged in the long term the trick knocked her to her knees. She gasped for breath as Nick walked over and knelt before her.

"Now, you can still go home after this," He said gently. "And I advise that you do so. Earth is perhaps one of the few safe places left in the whole galaxy right now." He held one gun out with the barrel aimed at her right leg. "If you don't I will have to shoot you to disable you and that's something Id' rather not-HURK!"

A blast of white-blue light slammed into Nick and sent him into the far wall...and through it along with the wall itself in a perfect square shape. Nick landed in a room on the opposite side of a corridor outside of Zim's office. Zim himself stood up, all four of his PAK legs extended forwards. He had been the one to shoot Nick straight out of his office.

"Hands off the Gaz-Slave! The almighty Zim made her almighty and you shall not damage her!" Zim-in a rare moment of chivalry had actually saved Gaz when he could have just run while she fought Nick more and possibly lost.

"...who are you and what did you do to that moron my brother liked to stalk?" She glanced at the Irken.

"I believe as you _hyuuuumans _say: less talking, more fighting!" Zim shot one fist into the air.

"I can accept that," Gaz shrugged and got up. "I'm still pounding you after this though."

Doh!

Xxx

"Here it is," Janie said while making her way cautiously down the final slope with BlackJack into the valley she had spotted earlier. Her earlier theory concerning the trickling streams angled down towards the valley had turned out to be correct. There was a river formed from three smaller rivers that spanned almost a third of the open ground within the valley. The desert had given way to flora as the soil became moist and rich thanks to the abundance of water.

"Well now we just have to hope that the others have some common sense also," BlackJack used the scope of her rifle to search the lower ground within view for any sign of their companions. "I mean, Credaran is a Veniran; they're natural predators and survivors on their planet and they're second to none on other planets like this. He's bound to come here."

"Unless they dumped him halfway across the planet," Janie pointed out. "Or there's a larger water source elsewhere. And this one alone is too large for us to cover before night fall. We couldn't search this valley in a week, much less three or four more hours."

"Wait...I see something," BlackJack zoomed in on a flash of light down in the trees. "...wait, is that a-"

TSEW!

KRUKA-THOOM!

Both women screamed as they were thrown into the air by an explosion just below their position. They ended up rolling down the rest of the way and taking some rather hard impacts. By the time they came to a stop Janie was unconscious and BlackJack was close behind. She looked up as a figure stepped out of the trees and walked towards them. She saw a pair of boots with metal buckles on them, and a purple fabric a bit like a cape...

"More from that false Tallest? I'll show him to send more of his zealots after me!" A voice with an accent of sorts growled before blackjack lost consciousness.

Xxx

The door to Pride was the War Room, where the military commanders under The Caterpillar had collected trophies of skirmishes against enemies such as the Meekroob. The room turned into the throne room of the dream palace, but every single door was locked now. Rik was on guard, more so than usual that is and was constantly advising The Caterpillar and Paneece to take after him.

"Pride's got a lot of reasons for that ego," He said as he scanned the throne room. "For one he's one hell of a fighter. Gluttony and Wrath will seem like wet puppies next to this guy."

"But if we follow the trend of defeating these alternate Riks based off of their namesake we'll have a better chance," Paneece tried to bring some confidence into the discussion.

"How do we defeat somebody with their own pride?" The Caterpillar wondered aloud before Paneece tugged on his arm. "Yes?"

"Th-th-there!" Paneece pointed to where two cocoons were propped up on the wall of the throne room...

Inside were Commanders Red and Purple, their faces visible through an oddly translucent material. They were frozen in an eternal expression of terror in their last moments of life.

"If the point was to remind me of the dark things I've done, you have failed to guilt-trip me." The Caterpillar announced as he looked around the throne room. "I gave Red and Purple a chance that most never would have. I showed them kindness...and they showed me hatred. So I gave them a taste of their own medicine."

"Isn't the saying "eye for an eye makes the world blind"?" Another voice rang out, though there was something...different...about this one. Some quality they couldn't put their finger on it. It almost sounded cultured.

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you...Pride?" Good Rik demanded before Pride stepped out from behind the thrones. He wore more formal clothes than what Rik would usually wear, but they still seemed to match his theme. His hands were folded behind his back, and he had a pleasant smile on his face.

"Long time old see, old friend," Pride said to the Caterpillar. "If I do recall the last time we met..." Suddenly he was in front of the Caterpillar and knocked him all the way into the main doors...and through them. "We left you crying on the floor like a smeet."

Paneece threw a hasty punch towards Pride only to have it casually slapped aside and then take an elbow to her face that knocked her away. Rik rushed up and twisted while bringing his right leg up in a heel kick that Pride caught in one hand. Then with a flick of his hand he flipped Rikalo through the air and made him land on one of the two thrones: the one belonging to the Monarch.

"Rikalo warned you, didn't he?" Pride inquired innocently as he folded his hands behind his back again. "I make that overgrown brawler and that slob look like _wet puppies._" He flashed Paneece a charming smile. "I also know how to treat a woman better than either of them."

Paneece gagged. "It's even creepier than when the real Rik tried to flirt with me!"

"Hm...Such a shame," Pride shrugged. "There's never a real woman around here anymore, and this mind gets so boring...aw well I'll just shoot you all for kicks and call it a day then!" He laughed while forming a pistol of some sort in one hand. It looked more curved and intricate than the standard Irken weapon-though it bore the symbol of the Holy Irken Empire on the main body.

"But one mustn't forget chivalry...so ladies first," He bowed to Paneece. "Just one chance, and then I take those lovely blue eyes of yours and put them in a mason jar."

Xxx

Envon and the Monarch held off the IMs despite how they only kept coming. Their tactics were rather simple to follow after the first several waves; once they adjusted their strategies it was a mere matter of gunning the IMs down as quickly as possible before switching to a blade or fists to finish the others off. Tak favoured her psychic powers to make several IMs turn on their companions; but every little while she had a chance to show off some nimble movement by dodging an IM and landing a quick but powerful blow that usually finished them off.

Skullene still fought with the mysterious Frequency on the upper level of the chamber. She moved to dodge more than she did to attack or block; it was that or be sliced to pieces by Frequency's seemingly endless stamina combined with his use of the two swords. He used the longer one to keep Skullene from attacking with her own weapons and darted in with the shorter one to try and land a killing blow. She was able to send an attack of her own his way between his barrages, but this produced little success. He always darted out of range and seemed to glide back close enough once her attack was over with a counter attack that left her unable to follow up on her original attempt to strike.

So Skullene relied on twisting and leaping to save her while she figured out a way to bypass Frequency's seemingly impassable style. In the mean time she had to avoid having her Squeedlyspooch exposed to the world by leaping onto what may have once been a railing lining a mezzanine. She balanced on it and leaped off of it before Frequency could try to cut her off at the knees again. She kicked down as she passed over him and struck him in the shoulder.

The action propelled her further-at least enough for her to land out of range of him and get up in time before he could reach her. Frequency seemed visibly annoyed at her now. His movements became harsher and more focused. It was that or he was beginning to feel fatigued after gods knew how many attacks.

Fortunately for Skullene this proved only to help her. She managed to disarm him of his shorter sword and sent the blade spinning through the air. It landed near Tak, who swept the blade up and impaled an IM on it before planting her foot on it and pushing the dead creature off of her new weapon. "Thanks!"

"Beach Bunny, you're really becoming more trouble than this was worth," Frequency said as he and Skullene faced off again. They circled each other like a pair of wolves ready to pounce on one another.

"First off don't call me that. Secondly: I get that a lot." Skullene cracked a smile at that before hearing a muffled explosion. "If I had to take a guess then that was my son Rine blowing away more of your little mutants."

"They ain't mine; they're just along for the ride." Frequency wagged one finger at her. "I'm just doing the job that I was hired to do, Little Chicky."

"And I'm looking for my sister, so pardon me if I feel that she is more important than your pay check," Skullene sliced upwards with her arm blade and barely missed the tip of Frequency's nose. The bounty hunter slid back while swinging his own blade at her. She brought her arm blade up and let Frequency's sword strike the flat of the weapon. She shoved the sword aside and swooped in with her arm moving as though she would deliver a right hook to Frequency. In reality she was delivering a right blade tipped hook to his face.

Or she would have if he hadn't once again glided out of danger and appeared several feet ahead of her. He was already withdrawing a gun from his pack when a nearby wall caved inwards and admitted several new fighters: Rine, Tenn and Drosco. Rine fired his rifle with pin point accuracy; he used barely two or three shots for every IM. Tenn dashed forward with the use of her PAK legs and then sliced away frantically. She was more accustomed to 'arranging' the downfall of her enemies instead of fighting directly; this however did not stop her from doing her best-which turned out to be enough to cut down many IMs.

Drosco reached into his own PAK and revealed two small metallic devices with reflective exteriors. One unfolded into a robotic snake while the other became a feline. The snaked wrapped around Drosco's right arm; once securely looped from wrist to upper arm it opened its mouth and revealed two curved and parallel blades that sprouted out of its mouth. The feline reshaped itself into a sort of arm mounted energy gun, which Drosco fired immediately and blasted one IM into its most basic elemental components.

"Well lookie there, you have reinforcements," Frequency nodded. "Problem being...so do I."

Then two more fighters dashed in. One of them tore a long bladed weapon from a pitch black sheathe which was hung at its waist and sliced through Rine's rifle. The young red eyed Irken tossed the two halves into the fighter and dove away to avoid being dismembered. The newcomer handled the blade with only one hand; the weapon was actually very thin and not extraordinarily long. However whatever it cut while the swordsman chased after Rine usually was sliced all the way through.

The other member of Frequency's 'reinforcements' revealed two spears with curved blades at each end. The user almost effortlessly spun and sliced with the weapons, one hand each performing what should have been near impossible tasks for just one Irken. She chose to engage Envon and Tak after deeming them to be the greatest threat among the group.

If she knew who Drosco was and what he represented as a threat then she would have gone after him immediately instead.

"Well don't stop on my account," Frequency swung at Skullene again. "Keep at it and ty to make ths fun!"

Xxx

End of Chapter

Group 1: Rikalo, De Rien, Kronos/ Janie, BlackJack/ Credaran, Elay

Group 2: Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene

Group 3: Tenn, Rine, Drosco

Group 4: Grim, Skoodge

Group 5: Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment

Group 6: Zim, Gaulia, Ginia, Phela, Volt, Lok, Gaz


	26. Damnation Arc, Fight in the Abyss P3

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

Xxx

"Man, this Old Religion looks interesting." Grim said while holding up a light source to illuminate the walls of the corridors he and Skoodge traversed during their search. "The Irkens who worshipped this Cornerstone must have been nearly the opposite of the Old Empire-" He paused as he came upon a word carved into the wall rather roughly, crossing over many of the symbols.

"Hey Skoodge...what is this?" He beckoned the red eyed Irken over to look at the word. "Shine a light on it, mine has to recharge." Skoodge aimed his light at the word...

_**RIK**_

"...Is this Rik's way of telling us that he was here?" Grim asked.

"I don't think so, all of these words are High Irken," Skoodge explained-having met the infamous bounty hunter decades ago himself. "And Rik is not a part of the current dialect, the name Rikalo has no short form. This means 'original' in High Irken, so it must refer to...maybe this Cornerstone as the original god of the Irkens; or maybe the original Tallest?"

"Can you translate some more?" Grim asked. "I mean...if we have time."

"I didn't think that you would have anthropological interests," Skoodge admitted while extending a tentacle from his PAK that had a recording device on the end. He slowly passed it over as many symbols as he could. "Ok, I can translate a bunch of this later; but I know I saw a date somewhere on this wall. If I got it right then this place is at least fifty thousand years old, possibly ore if these are newer carvings."

"We're miles underground and you think these could be 'newer' parts of the temple?" Grim asked incredulously as they moved along.

"I've been sneaking a peek at the wall whenever I find a specific date," Skoodge nodded. "The further we get from that room where we appeared, the earlier these dates get. If I had to guess, then this is just one section of the temple, and at the very center are the oldest archives of the Irkens who built this place."

"Well feel to snap a few pictures but we're not staying for an archaeological dig," Grim reminded the shorter Irken before they stepped into a large circular room...with a gaping hole covering most of the floor. After activating his recharged light Grim saw that they stood in a room that went up and down into what looked like infinity. Each level had a ring shaped walkway lining the walls and four doors.

"...think this is the center?" Grim asked.

"Maybe," Skoodge shrugged. "The oldest archives might be near the top or bottom."

"Pray that it's near the top then, because we're going upwards," Grim activated his PAK's built in hook launcher and fired up to a walkway four levels up. The cable landed and the hook dug itself in automatically. Grim leaped out into open air and began to retract the cable as he swayed back and forth. "Come on, use your launcher!"

"I don't have one installed; I was demoted to service drone after my invasion was completed!" Skoodge shouted up to him. "But don't worry, I'll just use my PAK legs and climb up!" He carefully stuck his PAK legs into the wall and began to climb up. He tried to avoid damaging the carvings as he ascended, but his pace resulted in Grim ascending four levels in the time it took for him to get halfway to the first.

"This is gonna take a while," Grim shook his head.

Then he stiffened at the sound of something dragging across the stone floor near him. Twisting around, he whipped out both of his weapons and activated their sickle shaped energy blades. Their red glow illuminated the area around him, showing nothing. But he still heard it coming from all directions.

"Skoodge, hurry it up!" He barked. "We have company!"

"_Calm down, sweetie,"_

Grim was frozen stiff at the sound of the voice. His jaw fell open a bit, muted babbling escaping him as he turned towards the source of the voice. It rose out from under the walk way and slithered along the floor around him. The light of his sickles showed green flesh...curled antennae...light blue eyes...

"_Let maneeme make it all better for you."_

And then the creature's head darted forward, opening its mouth and revealing a set of fangs poised to rip Grimrair's throat out!

Xxx

"I'm telling you Cred, this whole planet _suuuuucks!_" Elay shouted for the tenth time as she and Credaran trekked through the series of interconnecting valleys they had stumbled into. Unlike the one that Janie and BlackJack had found these were not lush and fertile but dead and dry.

"I heard you the first three times," Credaran replied without looking at her. His gaze was locked facing ahead into the unending ocean of rock and dust. "And I regained my hearing by the eighth time."

"Well I can't help but state the truth a lot," Elay sighed exasperatedly. "Repetition is a good thing at times you know!"

"Yes, and at other times it serves to slowly drive the large Veniran with the massive plasma gun and the claws insane and causes him to _accidently_ decapitate his partner and eat her corpse." Credaran said a little coo casually. However this did make Elay stop talking, for now.

After several minutes of blissful silence Credaran stopped and sniffed the air. "There's something in the area...it's been moving around...throwing us off of its exact location by lacing this whole valley with its scent." He hefted his rifle, cautiously sweeping the surrounding area with it. As the stock came to rest on his shoulder, adjusting itself to perfectly fit him a screen extended out of the side of the rifle. It gave him a motion tracker to assist with his hunt.

Elay stayed by his side, willing to let him take charge for this situation considering the fact that he had the large weapon which she had seen rip a beast twice his size in half. Still she chose to pull her laser out of its holster and remained alert for this unknown creature that Credaran had spotted. The Veniran was never wrong when he said that there was something nearby; Elay trusted him that much. But what could it be? It couldn't be some common animal if it had the brains to leave its scent all over the place to throw off his sense of smell.

"_So, the servants of the falsely named one have finally come."_

Credaran tilted his gun up and turned to his left, blasting a hole into a cliff face. But then the voice came from another part of the small valley.

"_I've been waiting for you for so long!"_

Then it seemed to melt out of the cliff walls. Its body twisted and curled as a head slowly formed. Credaran had his back to it until Elay stuttered his name and tapped his shoulder. The Veniran spun and brought up his rifle; but when he saw the giant forming before them his jaw dropped and the rifle tip was lowered a bit.

The mass became one large lump of rock like matter that slowly began to smooth out and take shape. Four thick limbs, a short neck with a head that had no eyes but a gaping mouth and a lower jaw that split into four segments. Two long tails uncurled behind it, ending in crescent shapes that looked strong enough to cut through metal.

The beast stood up on its hind legs and howled. It made Credaran groan in pain as he staggered, his ears beginning to bleed. Elay raised her gun and fired three quick shots into the beast. Though it looked like it was made of rock, its armour deflected the plasma shots entirely and send them glancing off into the sky.

"_Now take me to your master," _The creature said with what looked like a passable grin before it lunged for them. "_TAKE ME TO RIKALO!_"

Xxx

BlackJack hated having her PAK hooked up to anything except to recharge it every few weeks; so when she woke up with her hands tied behind her and somebody fiddling with her PAK she was not happy. She was on her back with a knee pressed into the small of her back. Her captor got off of her after removing the cables from her PAK. "Well neither of you are Shadow Irkens; that much is obvious. But Irkens without an ID to indicate which empire they are from are almost as bad in my eyes. So tell me Irken Napier, which empire are you part of?"

BlackJack turned on her side and glared up at the Irken standing over her. "You hacked my PAK? I'm gonna slice your hands off and keep them in a mason jar!" Nobody in Rik's crew or Vexus' employ knew BlackJack's real name, the only explanation was that this mysterious Irken had hacked into her PAK memory core.

"Calm down, I could have done more if I had the desire to do so," The Irken knelt in front of her. BlackJack saw a type of implant on her head, a psychic amplifier of sorts if she recognized the model. Irkens with the slightest psychic potential were permitted to use them in the service of the Old Empire, but the Crimson Empire only let elite Irkens use them...this one was definitely tall enough to be an Elite.

She wore the boots with metal buckles BlackJack had noticed before she had blacked out, and a set of black pants. Her shirt was purple with pink sleeves, shoulder pauldrons and collar. It was longer at the back and gave her a sort of cape. There was a pink dot in the middle of her shirt also.

BlackJack recognized the Irken after a moment, but from where...

"...I remember you from the Crimson Network," BlackJack said. "Captain Tak, or was it Invader Tak?"

"Officially I was never an Invader," Tak frowned. "The Defective who you saved from General Grash made sure of that."

She leaned in, and her right eye seemed to adjust itself a bit...at that point BlackJack realized that it was actually a purple tinted lens masquerading as an eye. It was a synthetic replacement for an eye instead of a standard pod grown one.

"Zim was supposed to die years ago," Tak hissed. "But you and your mercenary group just had to bring him back from that desolate rock, didn't you? And you let him hand over valuable information towards the enemy of the True Tallest!"

"Oh great, a Red Zealot," BlackJack growled. "But if you're a servant of Red, why would you be afraid of Shadow Irkens?"

"That false Tallest has been hunting me for weeks out here!" Tak replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "But I've outsmarted his freaks at every turn until you two came along. You were leading one of his experiments into this very valley!"

"Something followed us?" BlackJack heard Janie behind her, no doubt equally as bound.

"And now it's looking for me," Tak lied on her back near them, looking at the roof of the small cave they were hiding in. "I found this place when I first crashed, the only entrances are too small for it to get in, but it will find another point of entry soon enough. I intend to be gone by then; the only question is if I should leave you to be bait for me."

"We're fighting Shadow also," BlackJack informed the purple eyed Irken. "Wouldn't it be better if we worked together against this creature you were talking about?"

"It's that or you play monster bait while I escape," Tak pointed out.

"And have that thing just chase you around more until it finally catches you?" BlackJack was stalling for the time needed to get out of the ropes binding her hands. Tak obviously was short on proper equipment. "You can't run forever Tak."

"You're using a solar collector in your PAK to keep it charged, aren't you?" Janie interrupted their debate. "That thing, whatever you're talking about sounds smart if it followed us here. It will learn how to trap you out of the sun until your PAK is weak enough, and then all it has to do is either dig its way out or wait for you to make a break for it!"

Tak seemed to be considering Janie's words. "...in this case you may be correct; running and waiting for rescue is impractical."

Her PAK legs shot out and Janie's hands were cut free, but BlackJack held up her already freed hands and glanced at Tak. "You suck at tying knots."

"Well now at least I'm not allying myself with amateurs," Tak shrugged and then nodded off to her left. "Your weapons are in a crevice in the wall over there. After you arm yourselves perhaps we can plan how to escape this thing."

Xxx

Nick was put on the defensive by the tag team form between Gaz and Zim. Though he was not much of a fighter Zim was ferocious and wild in his attacks. He would often give Nick little chance to counter attack with his pistols by blasting away with his PAK lasers. In coordination with Gaz he pushed Nick to the nearby hangar where Lok and Volt spotted the fight.

Volt had been working the engine of the ship Lok had used to enter the station; the oddly designed engine on the ship would not take the standard fuel source utilized by Irkens. The yellow eyed scientist had quickly created a fluid from a formula Lok had provided and was in the process of loading it into the fuel tanks when Nick burst into the hangar, firing back the way he had come from.

"Is this common?" Lok asked as both of them knelt to avoid any ricocheting bullets.

"No!" Volt shook his head as Gaz and Zim rushed out into the open when Nick had to drop his empty gun. He produced two new hand guns, these ones plasma guns instead of projectile weapons. He dove behind a loading machine as Gaz fired her arm mounted plasma gun.

"Can somebody tell me what the hell is happening this time?" Lok demanded as his helmet closed over his head and activated one of his highly heated blades.

"The Nick-Slave tried to kill Zim!" Zim shouted. "He is a traitor!"

That was all that Lok needed to make a decision. He dashed around the parked transport ships and swung downwards. His blade cleaved right through the loading machine and left it in two pieces much to the shock and awe of Zim, Volt and Gaz. But Nick was not behind the loader anymore. Lok looked around and saw him rushing for the ramp of a transport. Before he could give chase a small metal weapon flew by him and struck Nick in the shoulder.

The communications officer gasped and stumbled while Gaz lowered the arm that she had used to throw the shuriken back to its original owner. The four closed in on the green eyed Irken and surrounded him.

"Who sent you to assault Zim?" Zim demanded. "Who paid you into betraying your leader and people? Tell me, worm!"

"I didn't take money for this," Nick shook his head and tugged the shuriken from his shoulder. He slowly got up, not trying to retrieve his dropped guns. "It was...a mercy killing Zim. If you only let me...now Shadow will send his Inquisitors after you."

"Shadow? Do you mean Tallest Shadow?" Lok suddenly lifted Nick off the ground and slammed him into the side of the parked transport next to them. "Why are you working for Shadow?"

"...I do anything to keep my family safe," Nick confessed. "Even if I have to do a few things I regret agreeing to...I've done them before...and I will do them again."

Lok held his blade to Nick's throat. "I should just kill you now."

"But you won't...because you know I can take you to Shadow," Nick said. "You know I can take you right now."

"Yes...because you let yourself get caught," Lok let him drop and backed away. "Everybody get back now!"

But it was too late; Nick pulled one sleeve back and tapped a device shaped like a watch. The air around him shimmered violently like churning water...

And then he, Volt, Gaz, Zim, Lok, and most of the floor around them and part of the two nearest shuttles were gone. The air rushed to fill in the oxygen and mass that had been suddenly transported by Nick's device. The security guards alerted by the sensors had rushed in just moments after it was all over, accompanied by a now awakened Gaulia. She looked around. "No...We're too late."

She looked to the guards. "Double security in all sectors! We must keep the smeetery and relevant data safe! Somebody find out how they all vanished! Get to it, our Empire might very well be under attack at its most critical point as we speak!"

Xxx

"That big ol' castle is definitely there for a reason," Rik said as he observed the massive structure in the center of the village. Behind him De knelt over the now sleeping Kronos. His jaw was successfully repositioned, but he still felt an amount of dizziness and found it hard to concentrate from the dull pain he suffered. "I'm going to go check it out. After Kronos wakes up you both can meet me inside."

"But what if there are more Inquisitors inside?" De got up and rushed over to him. They stood in the shade of one of the huts nearest to the dune wall. "They'd tear you apart in there."

"If there are more," Rik nodded. "And I think Galla's lovely colleague, the other one who didn't die on Purgatau will be in there." He looked at her and gently traced one hand along her jaw line. "But have you ever known me not to do the stupid thing?"

"You married me," She mumbled. "You fell in love."

"I said the stupid thing, not the illegal thing," Rik joked before leaning in and planting a kiss on De's lips. She clung to him the way she had so many years ago and the same way she had when he returned to her. She obviously didn't want him to go; she was returning to that point between being too clingy and being the woman who could snap your neck with a swing of her staff...

And he didn't want to go in alone either; mostly out of a fear of death involving his skin being peeled off while being raped to death. He broke the kiss first, but held De close as she wished. "I'll be careful in there, darlin'. I'm plannin' to live an extra long life. I especially plan to live an extra long life ending with me being old and so weak I can't hold a gun while Fren, Ouri and maybe some more kids of ours stand around my death bed."

"...more kids?" De smiled at this. "I thought you didn't want any more kids after Ouri was born."

"Well you never know," Rik shrugged, giving her another kiss. "Just wait until Kronos wakes up and can walk on his own. Then come in there and save my ass if I'm in trouble."

He stepped out into the burning desert sun as she nodded. "Knowing you, you really will need some help."

"You know me too well darlin'," Rik winked. "Don't take too long!" He rushed for the walls of the citadel and unleashed his PAK legs while jumping up. He dug them in and began to scale the outer wall.

When he reached the top he was about to step over when a wave of nausea struck him. He made sure the tips of his PAK legs were secure as he set himself down the battlements and fell to his knees. He tried to look down into the area within the walls, but as he did the image changed before his very eyes. He collapsed and would have gone over the side to fall hundreds of feet...

But as the sun vanished, he instead fell down some stairs and ended up on his back. He opened his eyes and found that he was looking at a stone roof. The chamber he was in was brightly lit by electric lights and at the top of the stairs he had fallen from was a sealed door.

"How did I..." Rik got to his feet. "I was outside...where am I?"

"You are in the Citadel," The speaker sat in the center of the room at its lowest part near a circular pool of water. Rik tried to look at their face, but a hood and cowl covered every inch of flesh. "More specifically you tried to enter the Citadel and it chose to send you to me."

"And you would be...?"

"I am merely a former inhabitant of the Citadel," The being chuckled. Its voice was not male nor female, young nor old, soft nor rough. It was perhaps the oddest accent to hear in the galaxy. "Or more specifically I am all of the former inhabitants who worshipped the Cornerstone of Light."

"Never heard of that," Rik checked the room for exits and saw an open arch shaped tunnel leading towards a cross section further on. "Are you gonna give me any trouble?"

"I am not here to harm, just to observe," The being shook its head and slowly rose to its feet without as much as a whisper of noise. "But what are you here for? An Irken has not visited the upper levels since the days of Rik ended."

"The days of...it's that whole Emperor Rik thing again?" Rik groaned. "That guy sure is a popular topic among shadowy figures and psychics."

"He should be, he was perhaps one of the most important-if not the most important leaders of all time," The being sighed sadly. "But then he stopped visiting one day, and as the years went on so did other Irkens. Then the disciples who now live as part of me encountered Irkens who came to burn the Citadel...it took many centuries to rebuild even with my capabilities, let me tell you that much."

"I was told that this Emperor Rik guy was betrayed by another guy, who became Tallest Blood." Rik replied.

"Hm...I do recall that name from the barbarians who called themselves loyal soldiers," The being nodded, walking around the pool. "What is the Empire like these days?"

"Hold on now I'm kinda trying to rescue somebody right now," Rik shook his head. "I need to know if you've seen a blue eyed Irken and another one who from what I hear has a ridiculously long body."

"I heard whispers of prisoners from the lower levels, yes." The being nodded, "They are held by the one named...Shadow?"

"Tallest Shadow," Rik said.

"He and this Blood have the same first name?"

"Not first name...title," Rik said. "It's a long story."

"If I lead you to the lower levels...will you tell me?" The being asked as it stopped before him.

"Lead me there and I'd tell you all my dirtiest secrets," Rik said with a smirk. "And let me just say there are some things I still haven't told my wife about."

"Very well...then follow me," The being walked down the wide arching tunnel, which had walls carved so smoothly that Rik's fingertip glided across the surface when he touched the material. "Tell me...what is your name?"

"I'd be the guy who feels awkward whenever somebody mentions Emperor Rik," Rik replied. "You see..._my_ name is Rik, or at least the short form is. The full version is Rikalo."

"I see..." The being pressed on, taking a left. "Shadow has his prisoners close by...you will be with them soon."

"Well that sure sounded dramatic." Rik whispered, keeping a hand on one of his guns as he followed behind.

"I should caution you...there is somebody in the upper levels, not an Irken...another being with white fur of all things, in the middle of such an arid world." The being chuckled, "He actually tried to take one of the artefacts, he had a nasty surprise and I doubt he'll be happy if he learns I made the security system. Quite a few of the disciples were former technicians and architects, so it was rather easy."

Xxx

Pride seemed to be untouchable at first. He would twist and duck in ways that made it seem that he was boneless. At other times he managed to toss or strike them with the strength of somebody twice his size with a flick of his wrist. He sidestepped The Caterpillar's claws and practically hopped out of the way again when The Caterpillar twisted to attack again.

Rik tried to shoot him from the elevated position of the thrones. Pride leaned back so that his two shots passed inches in front of his face and chest. Then he grabbed The Caterpillar by the robe and leaned back all the way, flipping off the ground and launching The Caterpillar clear across the room. He struck one of the windows, which cracked but did not shatter under his weight.

Paneece started toward Pride despite Rik trying to warn her not to. Pride stepped out of the way of the knife she swung at him and tripped her, making her slam into the Caterpillar as he straightened up. Somehow her blunder had sent her flying several feet and slammed her into him. At the worst it should have only made her fall on her face.

"His powers vary, they can make you mess up and make whatever results that he wants come true," Rik warned them. "But only if you give him the chance!"

"Oh don't go spoiling the surprise!" Pride feigned a whine. "I thought we were supposed to be good at keeping secrets for friends. Weren't we proud of how nobody could force us to break or talk?"

"You're _immensely_ aggravating." The Caterpillar growled as he launched himself at Pride. He and Paneece double-teamed Pride with swift strikes that forced him around the room. Yet no matter how often they kept trying to hit him he kept moving out of their way while dancing back; swiftly ducking and twisting his body around. Clearly, traditional methods weren't working...they'd have to think up something clever...

Finally they made a mistake when they tried to attack him from either side. The Caterpillar thrust one claw forward and Paneece swung her knife down. They were trying to intercept Pride as he came near them, but Paneece stopped when she realized she would cut The Caterpillar's arm if she went through with her attack. Pride grabbed The Caterpillar's arm, stopping it cold and grabbed Paneece's knife wrist. He passed under the outstretched limbs and then kicked one of Paneece's legs out from under her.

He swung her off of the ground and slammed her into The Caterpillar. Then he threw them both upwards and into the ceiling. Before they even landed on the ground Pride leaped up and kicked them through the air with speed and strength that should have been impossible. Paneece landed awkwardly against one arm rest of the throne designated for The Monarch and her back arched. She gasped and collapsed onto the floor, her spinal cord badly damaged by the impact.

However as she focused through the pain she found that her spine was realigning itself. Then feeling was restored to her limbs-simply because she willed it to happen. She was incredibly lucky; had she been in the real world when this happened nothing short of a miracle would have restored the damaged nerves and muscles. But then again Pride would probably not be so impossibly talented in the real world either.

"You're going to have to do far better than that." Pride yawned before ducking under another shot from the Fragment of Rik. "Ah, but who knows? Perhaps one day you'll be as sufficiently skilled as me. Well, almost. Nobody could be as skilled as I am."

Pride grinned, nonchalantly ducking another punch from The Caterpillar and sent the white clad Irken face first to the ground with an arm wrenched up at an uncomfortable angle. He glanced at Paneece as she got to her feet and winked. "You're wasting your time with him, sweetie. You'll find I'm far more suitable for one such as you. You ought to be honored I'm even _talking_ with you actually."

"You really take the cake. But not in the way you're thinking." Paneece mumbled at him while forming a gun. She was not one for using them, though she was more than capable of killing with them. She had to kill Wrath and Gluttony already...she could do it. "Now let him go!"

"Hm...In the time you or Rikky shoots I could snap all three bones in the arm and two or three bones in his hand," Pride yawned again. "Do you want to test that?"

"Rather _not!_" The Caterpillar growled, his tail coming up and striking Pride from behind. It hit him in the head and knocked him over, allowing The Caterpillar to get up. Paneece and Rik both fired at Pride, riddling him with holes that bled fiercely...

And he got up, the wounds and stains on his clothing vanishing. He straightened his formal coat out. "Hm...Even I can tell when I talk too much. What's say we skip more dialogue and just end it then?"

A pistol formed in his hand. It was complex in design and appearance, and definitely looked expensive. He raised it. "Who first? Eeny-Meany-Miney...you."

He turned the gun on Paneece and fired.

Xxx

End of Chapter

Anything in **bold letters** means that that character has been shown in this chapter.

Group 1**: Rikalo, De Rien, Kronos**/ **Janie, BlackJack, Tak**/ **Credaran, Elay**

Group 2: Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene

Group 3: Tenn, Rine, Drosco

Group 4: **Grim, Skoodge**

Group 5: **Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment**

Group 6**: Zim, Gaulia,** Ginia, Phela, **Volt, Lok, Gaz**


	27. Damnation Arc, Pride Falls, Chaos Rises

Masked Contritence

**I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.**

**De Rien (MetalCoffeCup) Introduced**

**Janie (Thorn-Irken) Introduced**

**Vexus (kill-zone) Introduced**

**Kronos (MilukiSama) Introduced**

**Velrik, Janie's husband (Introduced) Belthiad, a bounty hunter (Introduced) And Zafre, an Irken renegade. (RaynaHero200) Introduced**

**BlackJack (HemeraTak) Introduced**

**Drosco Pocrule (BloddyRosePettles) Introduced**

**Volt (Invader-Leka)**

**Caterpillar (ngrey651) Introduced**

**Grimrair (ZimsMostLoyalServant) Introduced**

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

Xxx

By now the final IM fell. However the two assailants who had joined the fight were keeping Skullene's allies from helping her. Rine was trying to avoid being dismembered by the swordsman until Drosco coolly stepped in and produced a pair of knives that the seemingly unstoppable blade could not cut through. Envon, The Monarch and Tenn fought against the spear wielder.

Skullene was beginning to get slower as the fight progressed; she made mistakes and was almost hit several times in vital areas. But Frequency was still active and jumping around like a rabbit. She knew that she had to end this soon or she would be too exhausted to defend herself. Frequency had been forcing her back towards the edge of the mezzanine that they fought on, so she chose to turn the tables on him and rolled under his blade as he swung again.

She dashed towards a narrow entrance which seemed to be the only way for people to normally access the second floor of the massive hall. She heard a whistling noise and twisted counter clockwise in time. Frequency's sword flew past her and buried itself half way up to the hilt in the wall next to the door. Frequency, who appeared to be enjoying this fight with drew a pair of shorter curved knives. "You're runnin' out of juice now dudette, just a matter of time."

"Or a matter of me landing one good hit," Skullene retorted while slipping through the doorway.

"Bad idea babe, its pitch black on that side and I live to see in the dark," Frequency chased after her and left his two accomplices to deal with the rest of the group.

"Well then _come and get me!_" Skullene hollered from far ahead.

Frequency's pursuit took him into an area that was even more damaged than the hall the group encountered him in. Pillars and paths were collapsed and the chamber looked close to totally collapsing. But sun light was coming down from several holes in the roof far above. Skullene was nowhere to be seen though; the bounty hunter climbed to the superior (higher) end of a pathway that had once been part of the third floor of the chamber. It had collapsed onto several statues and was left tilted in a way that made it an awkward ramp.

As he scanned the massive room he heard light footsteps, but the echoing effect made it hard to place it until Skullene was close enough to plant a foot against his spin and shove him over the edge of the ramp. His arms flailed for a second before he hit the floor several feet below. He briefly groaned in pain and got up. Suddenly Skullene landed in front of him.

"Come on then," She extended her arm blade and held the tip out towards him. "You'll have to do a lot better than this if you want to kill me."

"Don't particularly want to," Frequency shook his head. "But a job's a job."

Skullene swung down, but he was gone by then and swept her feet out from under her. She saw him swinging one of his knives in an underhanded movement that would let him sliced through her exposed throat and prevent her from blocking. He had to have some pretty good aim if he was doing that instead of an overhead chop or stab. She leaned her head to the right and rolled in the same direction. His blade nicked the vulnerable side of her neck.

Skullene got up without stopping and met Frequency's next attack head on. She bashed his daggers aside with one swift blow and then leaned back when he went for her throat. He leaned too far forward due to his own momentum and she locked her legs around his waist while planting her hands on the ground and activating her PAK legs at the same time. They pushed against the ground and helped her complete her back flip. This action sent Frequency into the ground face first.

Skullene released him and moved back onto her feet. "What the hell are you anyways?"

"Not anythin' you'd know of...at least in this universe," Frequency stretched as he got up. "But every time I find a world with you in it you always have to give me one killer headache."

"What do you mean?" Skullene tensed.

"I mean that we've met before, quite a few times," Frequency sighed. "And only because I knew your mom-ur uh...maneeme, or your dad-or uh..._doneeme_; and I'm pretty sure this ain't the last time you're gonna mess with my job."

"Wait...you travel...in other _universes_?" Skullene asked, perplexed by the possibility.

"It's my past time," Frequency shrugged. "I stopped by here and thought I'd take a job for kicks."

"You're working for the one who kidnapped my little sister then." Skullene glared at the blue furred mercenary.

"Like I said beach bunny, it's all a job," Frequency shrugged.

"_Geda dena nili!_" (Gods damn you) Skullene growled. "If you know me then you know you're a dead man walking now!"

"I received similar threats before," Frequency nodded.

"You're in my way," Skullene took a deep breath. "If you actually _do_ know me at all, then you know that I'm getting my little sister out of here no matter what you do."

"Weeeellll okay you do tend to make me outright fail a job here and there, especially when it comes to the lil' dudette Panny." Frequency shrugged. "Guess it's time to try my luck."

Their blades met again.

Xxx

Grimrair was only saved by Skoodge's quick reacting and expert aim. The former Invader had pulled out a rifle that he had taken after persuasion from Envon prior to their arrival in the temple. He unfolded it when he saw the creature crawling into view and fired when he saw it lunge for his comrade. The shot pierced the creature's side and made it shriek in agony as it twisted and fell over the edge.

Grim snapped out of his trance and looked down in the direction the creature had fallen. "M-maneeme?"

That thing...could it really have been her? No...His maneeme wasn't some monster; she wouldn't try to kill him. It was just some trick by whoever had kidnapped his little sister to throw him off guard.

"Grim, are you alright?" Grim glanced down at Skoodge, who was scanning the darkness for the creature. "Where'd it go? I saw it land on this level!"

Grim's eyes widened. "Skoodge get out of there, now!"

Just as Skoodge dug his PAK legs in to the walls Grim saw the creature already circling around along the chamber wall to attack. Gripping his scythes firmly, Grim leaped from the walk way and dove towards the creature that dared to take on his maneeme's voice and appearance. He saw it just before he slammed into it in the middle of his fall.

It had Miyuki's soft flawless skin, her beautiful sky blue eyes and delicate curled antennae...but it was mixed with some serpent like beast that snarled and hissed. Venom dripped from her fangs as she looked up at Grim, who pinned her to the floor. Then her expression softened. "Grim, my baby...you're hurting maneeme."

"Shut up!" Grim snarled. "You're a distraction and a trick!" He held one scythe up and swung it back down towards her. Before he knew it he was sent flying into Skoodge after the creature masquerading as Miyuki knocked him off with barely any effort involved.

"Grim...I'm hurt," The Miyuki-Beast sniffed while rising. "I raised you, made sure you were taught to survive..." She revealed her fangs again. "All I would like is a little **gratitude!**"

Grim helped Skoodge to his feet and shoved him out of the way while leaping away from several spike tipped tentacles that came from Miyuki's body and buried themselves into the wall behind the two. Grim swung his scythes and sliced clean through the appendages with the left weapon while the right handed one sliced at her neck. The second scythe missed and left a shallow wound in Miyuki's stomach.

"Grim what are we going to do?" Skoodge swallowed. "Is-is she really-"

"_No she isn't,_" Grim snapped harshly. "It's just a way to mess with us Skoodge! She's not Manee-Miyuki!" He knew that Skoodge had been told of his position as Miyuki's son, but it was a force of habit that made him persist in avoiding the word 'maneeme.'

He held the two inferior (bottom) edges of his scythes together and felt them lock into one long scythe. One blade vanished and the other grew much larger. He held it before him to fend off the beast that looked and sounded so much like his mother. "Who the hell made you? Are you some kind of augmented clone? Who would dare desecrate Miyuki's memory like this?"

"You really don't recognize your own maneeme?" Miyuki's eyes were now watering. "Grim...you still have the poncho I made you."

This made Grim stop in mid swing, his blade resting inches from her neck. Skoodge looked at him in confusion. "Grimrair, what's wrong?"

"I-I never told anybody she made it for me...only Envon knew," Grim whispered. "How could she know that?" One hand travelled to the blue garment he wore over his armour, a final gift left to him. He had worn it every day since Miyuki's death so many decades ago. Miyuki reached forward and gently stroked the fabric.

"Remember...dear?" Miyuki looked up and met his eyes. "Remember..._dewo smeet?_" (My child?)

Grim's gaze switched between her eyes and fangs as she slowly brought herself closer to him. Her arms went around him, holding him gently. Skoodge had his rifle aimed at her, ready to fire. But when she leaned in she retracted her fangs and kissed Grim on the forehead tenderly...

Then Skoodge saw one of her claws come up, ready to rip Grim's PAK from his flesh.

"Grim get away from her!" Skoodge took aim and fired.

TSEW!

Xxx

Paneece fell to one knee with a scream, a hole shot clean through her right knee. She rolled onto her back, holding the damaged appendage as Pride fired again, taking out her right elbow. Then he fired at Rik, knocking his guns out of his hands with two shots. Paneece was on her back, bawling pitifully from the agony she was experiencing. Rik tried to get to her, but Pride fired two more shots that made him scramble for cover.

The Caterpillar shot across the room to help Paneece, and took a laser to his side. He collapsed with a gasp of pain mere feet from Paneece. Pride stood up while passing the gun casually between both hands. "Yep, the lovely lady definitely will go first if you both act so foolishly in trying to save her."

"If you harm her I'll-" The Caterpillar was shot further down along his body to make him break off into a cry of pain. He still tried to reach for Paneece, who was whimpering silently as she tried to will her injuries to heal themselves.

"You'll do what...cry?" Pride sounded like they were sharing jokes. "Will it be for her? For the child she is definitely carrying? For the fact that you've finally learned that there is nothing you possess that I cannot take or destroy?"

He knelt by Paneece and traced one hand along her jaw, making her shudder. "A shame that I have to destroy this one, I'd prefer to keep her for a bit but...oh well." He pressed his gun to her head-

DOW! Then the weapon shattered in his hand! He stood up, shaking the injured hand and growling. Rikalo stood up, a rifle levelled at Pride. "Put one hand on my buddy or his mate and I'll shoot something a lot more valuable than your hand next."

"Heh, no wonder you needed me to keep yourself from cutting your wrists," Pride sneered. "You're this worm's florping lap dog; you'd do anything for him." He called his gun back to his hand. "But that's what I'm here to remedy for the new Rik, the more agreeable one who finally took action."

"The one you helped to corrupt," Rik snapped as they began to circle with their guns levelled towards one another.

The Caterpillar managed to heal his own wounds and moved over to Paneece. He picked her up and moved her towards the thrones where he gently set her in the one belonging to The Monarch. He tried to use his control over the dream world in an effort to heal Paneece's wounds and found them slowly sealing up. The bones beneath, melted and splintered by the shots reformed. Ligaments and muscles grew and held the bones in proper place.

"There, all better," He whispered as the two versions of Rik exchanged gun fire behind him.

Pride was casually dodging Rik's shots and firing back at the same time. The fragment of Rik could barely keep up with Pride, who clearly was the better marksman. But of course he was; he was everything Rik had to be proud of...

Proud...he thought so highly of himself. But what if he doubted that for just a second? Like with Wrath and Gluttony this could only be beaten with his own power: his pride.

He gave Paneece a kiss on the forehead. "Rest here until it is finished...which will be soon."

He now knew how to beat Pride.

His Rikalo was proud to fight his own people because of the grudge he carried, because The Caterpillar had shown no remorse or hesitation before having him tortured...because he showed no remorse in practically enslaving humanity. He needed to show him there was no need to hold his grudge anymore; Rik needed to know he had no reason to fight so ferociously.

As the two Irkens continued to fire and dodge, The Caterpillar shot out quickly and stopped right behind Pride. The gunslinger smirked and spun, firing once into The Caterpillar just as Paneece opened her eyes and saw this. She opened her mouth in a scream and leaped from the throne she had been left on. But The Caterpillar did not collapse...nor did he even bleed.

"W-what is this?" Pride demanded. "Get back, now!"

But the monocle eyed being kept moving forward, arms spread wide as Pride looked on in confusion and fear.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He asked as the Caterpillar reached forward. He swung the handle of his gun and struck the robed Irken across the face. This barely made The Caterpillar flinch as he wrapped his arms around Pride, hugging him tightly, "G-get your hands off of me, now! What is this?"

"I'm hugging you, Rik." The Caterpillar said simply, softly. He rubbed Pride's back even as the red eyed Irken tried to squirm free. "I don't need to fight you."

Pride stiffened. "You don't mean that." It was a desperate denial. He was supposed to fight a monster who had betrayed him; he was supposed to be the good guy...

The Caterpillar continued. "We never needed to fight; we're equals, none superior to the other." He kissed Pride's forehead. "And I love you, Rikalo. I forgive you for what you've done."

"Do-don't t-talk like that!" Pride screamed out, his body beginning to rapidly shake. "Don't you go talking like that!"

"I forgive you." The Caterpillar insisted. "I forgive you for everything. You don't have to be angry anymore. You don't have to hold this grudge. Learn to forgive, Pride. You needn't forget...but if you learn to forgive..."

"S-stop it!" Pride's voice shook.

"Please Rikalo...forgive me for hurting you."

That was the final straw. "STOP IT!" Pride forced the Caterpillar to the ground and pummeled him, but for every blow he landed the bruise would fade and his other injuries-those he failed to heal vanished entirely. Through Pride, the true Rikalo had heard The Caterpillar's words in the back of his head...Pride was slowly giving away to the old humility Rikalo had possessed in his days as Champion of the Holy Irken Empire.

Paneece and Rik stood up, looking as fine as when they had first entered the throne room. Pride was shrinking in The Caterpillar's arms as the emperor got back up. Soon the arrogant and powerful Pride was replaced by a tiny Irken smeet who wailed and sobbed. "Don't you talk like that! Stop looking down on me! Stop pitying me!"

"I love you, Rik, my dear, dear friend." The Caterpillar said, giving him a kiss on the forehead once more. Pride finally let out a long shriek of pain as he turned into a statue that almost instantly dissolved into dust. When the cloud of dust cleared The Caterpillar could see that Rik's eyes were watering as he felt the effects of what had been said and done moments before.

"How did you know that would work?" Paneece asked as the doors unlocked themselves, leaving the palace open to exploration once more.

"Rikalo...somewhere deep down thought he was doing the right thing when he destroyed humanity," The Caterpillar said. "He thought he was doing a necessary evil to combat a greater evil...something I was on my way to becoming. He reinforced his ideas with anger towards me and my decisions, pride in himself as a champion and a hero..." He shook his head. "I showed him that I am not the same monster he fought...I showed him that I am the Irken he met so long ago."

"And without that anger, without the grudge Pride had nothing to feed off of," Rik finished. "...thanks...Darth."

The Caterpillar pulled the fragment of Rik into a hug. "Anything for you Rik, anything for you."

Xxx

"It is this way," The Being said while leading Rik down a spiralling staircase into the depths of the fortress. "By now we should be under the surface."

Rik ignored the observation and returned to the previous topic, having answered the dozens of questions the Being had for him during their walk. "So you're telling me that Emperor Rik had this place built in honour of this Cornerstone?"

The Being nodded. "Those within me remember that he may have been the most devout followed of the Cornerstone. You could call him the founder of the religion...at least among Irken kind. It is a deity that has visited many races and inspired many leaders."

"Rik bein' one of 'em?"

"He claimed that he was motivated by his dreams to act," The Being stopped at a pair of iron doors. "To conquer those around him, to spread equality and empowerment...and they would desert him for months when he failed to act kindly. However one such as he forgives; and Rik soon became independent and acted on his own without guidance. He could not be led along like a smeet by its mother."

"Smeets don't exactly have mothers these days," Rik muttered.

"Yes, you told me," Somehow Rik could tell that the Being was grimacing. "Smeetery...it sounds like an abomination against nature."

"Well some Irkens like natural breeding...at least some who are capable of it these days," Rik admitted. "I have a few kids myself."

"Just like the Emperor then..." The Being chuckled. "Defying the set norms of society...you told me you are a rogue, correct?"

"The term is bounty hunter."

"A form of rogue Irken," The Being faced him. "Beyond here is the threshold that leads to the lower levels. Shadow has somehow repeatedly entered and exited the lower levels without using this passage...which in itself should be impossible. One can only enter through here, and without one to open the door from here nobody can leave."

"So when I head in I only have the promise of your sincere good will that I will be freed?" Rik glanced at the robed and hooded figure.

"Perhaps if you do not trust me, you may use...the forbidden exit. I doubt any remain who would prosecute you for using it." The Being tilted its shrouded head.

"Oh great, an almighty mystical and forbidden way to leave...I always get the short end of the stick," Rik examined the doors. "Alrighty, what is it?"

"In the room beyond you will find eight pillars. One of them will have a brightly coloured gemstone in it. Take it...and you will see what I mean."

"...why do I have the urge to disobey your advice and just pray that you'll let me out?"

"If you took my word for it without question I'd be disappointed and fear for the future of the Irken race."

"What is this gemstone you're talking about?" Rik planted his hands on his hips and fixed the being with a cynical glare.

"When the Cornerstone of Light created this universe and allowed life to flourish...it left several Lieutenants to watch over it. They were fragments of him if you would like it to be stated simply." The Being slid one hand along the smooth metal, but when Rik reached out to touch it he had to retract his hand quickly. The metal chilled him to the bone throughout his whole body when he was barely an inch from it! He looked at his glove and saw frost forming on it up to the wrist. Disturbed, he let the Being proceed.

"Life and Death are the beginning and ending in perfect harmony." He was no doubt listing them for Rik. "The World and the Body, the balance between caring for others...and caring only for yourself; a more proper term would be the Outer Eyes and the Inner Eyes. Then there is Altruism and Cruelty, or Good and Evil as you might say. And finally...Order and Chaos."

As he spoke, the iron doors began to open on their own. The sounds of gears grinding against one another made Rik shiver. Beyond the door more electric lights turned on. "For a sacred temple this place has a nice electrical system."

"Sometimes pilgrims stop by...perhaps once in a century. The last party set these up to a...solar collector I believe it was called. It lights and warms the castle at night and collects during the day." The Being said. "So I allow them to work here. Your guns will not work within the area between the upper and lower sections unless I allow them to, nor will your PAK."

"I kinda need it to survive if you remember that part," Rik reminded him.

"Oh I know," The Being nodded. "It will work unless you do something that threatens this temple, and only then I can be a threat to you when you step beyond these doors." He looked to Rik again, his expression hidden by his hood. "Will you proceed?"

"..." Rik stepped through at a leisure pace. The Being did not follow, but Rik had a feeling that he still had his eyes on him even when the doors shut.

Rik stepped into a wider chamber that had a circular shape. He descended a short staircase and looked at the eight pillars lining the sides of the room. At the far end was another set of iron doors much like the first one. This room seemed to naturally illuminate itself without the need of the electric light sources; it had a golden glow to its walls...originating from just one of the pillars.

It was the furthest on the left, glowing like a beacon that reflected around the chamber until every stone looked like it was made of gold. When Rik approached he felt heat originating from it at first, but as he got closer it faded. In the center of the stone column was a single multicoloured gemstone that changed shades and colour so fast that it was impossible to determine just what it was.

"Take it, Rikalo 'Rik'," He heard the voice of the Being as clearly as though he stood right behind the Irken. "The Stone of Chaos is yours to do with as you see fit..."

Rik hesitantly reached out with one hand and fits his fingers and thumb around the stone to pull it free-

Suddenly fire and ice shot through his veins one after another. He fell on his back, his limbs beyond his control and his airways sealed tightly. Had he been tricked by the Being? Was he about to die?

Then Rik was pulled into an abyss, pitch black in all directions with a white shadow beneath him. He slowly got up, looking around the eternal dark. "What the hell is this place...?"

Then fire shot to life all around him! He jumped as the darkness was given a landscape for the black to create a horizon with. Dirt, rock, metal...a complete wasteland engulfed in fire. Two massive pillars dozes of stories high ascended from the wreckage before him, slicing upwards into the black sky. They were curved near the tip so that they pointed towards one another. Something was forming between them, at first so small and then-

THOOM! It became massive in the blink of an eye! A demonic face, black armoured scales and red eyes, white teeth bared in a vicious grin had appeared. The beast opened its mouth and laughed hard enough that Rik was knocked off balance. "**Finally! An Irken stupid enough to listen to that damn Keeper! It has been so long!**"

"Holy shit!" Rik stared up at the beast's face in awe and fear. He scrambled back away from the disembodied head that stood among the pillars of flame and jets of smoke that shot up around and behind it.

"**You are the new keeper of the Chaos Stone, be honoured you moron!**" The beast head cackled again.

"What are you...?"

"**Hm? A name...it changes every time I get a new keeper, I even forget the one my daddy gave me," **The beast head seemed genuinely puzzled. Much of the fire and smoke died around it as it donned a thoughtful expression. Finally after some pondering it grinned and focused on Rik. "**I have it now...I don't know where it came from though, perhaps a previous vessel's memory...aw well who gives a damn! A name is a name as fine as any other and this one is mine!**" The head shrunk down immensely and floated before Rikalo.

"**I congratulate you, Irken," **It chuckled. **"For now your enemy will have to fear the Entity and Soul of Chaos, the 8****th**** child of the Cornerstone...you may call me the Carlos."**

Xxx

End of Chapter

Yep, I just had to get Carlos into this somehow. Expect that same lovable personality...but from the equivalent of a real demon.

Anything in bold letters means that that character has been shown in this chapter.

Group 1**: Rikalo (with Carlos),** De Rien, Kronos/ Janie, BlackJack, Tak/ Credaran, Elay

Group 2**: Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene, Tenn, Rine, Drosco**

Group 4: **Grim, Skoodge**

Group 5:** Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment**

Group 6: Zim, Volt, Lok, Gaz


	28. Apocalypse Arc, Convergence of Conflict

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

**IMPORTANT**

This story is nearing its end, but is by no means the end of Rik's adventure. I am about...70-75 percent through this if I am correct. There will be a sequel up.

Now I have to try and bring all six or so groups together, so I'll try and use each chapter to focus on one or two each. As such I will list the characters that will be the focus of this chapter. Most roles will most likely be small and brief but this is mostly just to get all of the storylines to come together.

**Tak, BlackJack, Janie**

**Rikalo, Carlos**

**De Rien, Kronos**

**Zim, Lok, Volt, Gaz**

Xxx

The beast stalking Tak turned out to be smaller than BlackJack had thought. She watched it from the safety of a cliff face that she was hanging from by her PAK legs. Her real feet were positioned cautiously on some rocks that just barely stuck out from the rock, providing her some more balance. She tried to find Tak and Janie on the valley floor. She saw Janie approaching the beast...

And she didn't blame Janie for immediately hiding when she located it. The pink eyed Irken was hiding behind a tree, quivering as she tried to keep a grip on her weapon. Tak was in position already and thankfully could not see Janie. If she did she no doubt would have decided to scrub the mission and possibly let the beast have Janie for lunch.

The beast was ten feet tall and was indeed too large to get to an Irken of Tak's size in a small cave. It was vaguely humanoid and covered by blood red armoured plating that could only have been surgically grafted onto the flesh beneath. The armour looked rather primitive in design, made only to intimidate; Tak however claimed that it was powerful enough to deflect a shot from her plasma gun. As such they would have to first find a way to weaken the armour.

It had dents and was rusting in some areas so the material was obviously far from indestructible. If they pounded it enough perhaps they could find a weak spot; or they could try to hit it between the protective armour segments and pray they crippled it enough to keep it from chasing after them. Its triangular head lacked any form of expression-or perhaps there were just so many scars and blood stains on it that it could not adequately express anything.

A small creature similar to what a human would call a bird landed on the creature's shoulder. It had been holding position ever since that morning-again according to Tak so this foolish creature no doubt had no idea that it was even alive. It probably mistook it for something else like a tree or a statue, no more threatening than a solitary rock. But no sooner than it set down did long spikes suddenly shoot out from between slots in the monster's armour.

The creature was impaled with a brief cry and went limp as it was robbed off its life. The creature turned its head a bit as thought curious to see what it had killed. It shifted its shoulder a bit...and suddenly the spike split four ways, shredding the tiny corpse and leaving a splatter of blood and organs with some remains of a skeleton on the forest floor.

"Holy...what are we dealing with?" Elay mumbled, feeling her pulse racing from fear rather than nervous anticipation. This was definitely something made by Shadow, who else would be willing to create such abominations and send them out without any form of control? The Tallest made no effort to hide how he was often experimenting to create newer weapons and soldiers. Zim's GESS were light compared to this...

Whatever it was this monster was definitely a product of those experiments performed by Shadow. The two antennae sticking up from its head were the only sign that it had ever been an Irken at all, or at least somewhat related to the Irken species. It had no doubt been born this way; nothing could be physically altered to such extent except being born to grow into this. The wind suddenly shifted and the beast raised its head a bit. Janie looked close to fainting, and BlackJack didn't blame her. If she were down there she would have dropped her gun now; the relative safety of the cliff gave her the courage to keep watching the beast.

It suddenly snapped its head around at an angle that would have broken an Irken's neck. It was looking in Tak's direction. The purple eyed Captain met its gaze and unfolded her PAK legs. It suddenly got down on all fours and shrieked. The noise made every animal in the area flee. Then it leaped forward faster than any of the IMs or GESS, far too fast for its size and weight. It snatched up two trees and sent them flying as it charged for the one Tak was sitting in.

Tak stood up and fired her PAK lasers in barrages of two at a time. First the top legs fired, and then the bottom ones. She was only trying to get its attention while BlackJack searched for a weak spot on it. The lasers bounced off of its armoured shell, but if any of them burnt the flesh beneath then the beast did not react to it. It was already howling and snarling, so there was no way to tell if it was in pain.

BlackJack fired her rifle. The plasma shots reached their target in a split second, all of them hitting right where BlackJack intended them too. Unlike projectile weapons which would not have enough acceleration and power to reach the beast and hit it the plasma rifle's shots would land almost instantly. The beast slowed for a moment, wondering if it should continue on to kill its original prey or turn and meet the new threat. It chose to continue on to Tak and sliced through the trunk of the tree she stood in with one swift swing of the arm.

Tak dug her PAK legs into the tree's trunk to keep from falling as it began to fall. But the beast did not even give time for that; instead it grabbed the trunk of the tree and stopped it with the seemingly endless amount of strength it possessed. Then it heaved the tree into the air as though it barely weight more than that of a brick. BlackJack and Janie gaped at the sight of this action.

But Tak on the other hand was screaming her head off as the tree began to plummet back towards the ground. She leaped from the tree, not willing to face the beast after injuring herself in a crash landing and managed to catch herself on another tree using her PAK legs. The unfortunate woody plant thrown into the air landed in a tangle of branches that snapped off. While the beast was brilliant enough to create and perform a working strategy it was pretty much hopeless in the way of observation...

Now of course the simple way of saying that is that it didn't know that Tak had jumped from the tree. It tore its way through it until it was shattered into dozens of pieces and the ground around it was torn up. Janie took a deep breath and stepped out into view. She fired at the beast and scored a lucky hit at the back of the knee joint. It shifted off balance a bit but remained standing.

The beast spun and was halfway towards her before BlackJack had enough sense to start firing a second later. Janie took the wise course of action and ran as fast as she could towards the cliff where BlackJack was waiting for her. The beast was catching up to her despite BlackJack and Tak's best efforts. Nothing would slow it down or cause any additional damage to its armour.

It was almost on top of Janie now. It swiped its claws forward and missed only because she stumbled while moving around a tree. It tore through the tree and missed Janie; she still practically felt the tips of its fingers. She screamed and desperately fired over her shoulder.

BlackJack tried to climb down so she could get close enough to help, but Tak beat her to the punch and landed on the beast's back. She jammed all four of her PAK legs down into its back by inserting them in the gaps between the armour. She twisted and wiggled the metal appendage while pressing herself as flat as possible to the surface beneath her to avoid the reaching hands of the beast.

Janie stumbled while turning to see why it had stopped chasing her and let out a sigh of relief. She made no effort to hide the tears on her face; she had almost been torn apart by some sort of Irken Super Mutant. She deserved a bit of a break. BlackJack rushed to help Tak bring the monster down. She fired at the unprotected back of its legs to repeat what Janie had done to enrage the beast so.

With a groan of effort Tak managed to slip her fingers under the armoured plate protecting the shoulder blades and spinal cord after her PAK legs managed to loosen it. She wrenched on it, slowly peeling it away. BlackJack focused on the beast's head to distract it. One shot severed one of its antennae and sent it into an enraged frenzy. Now it was chasing BlackJack, who fortunately was faster than Janie.

Tak saw skin pull away from the beast on the inside of the armour. It really had been grafted onto the flesh. Obviously this thing was either expendable or given the galaxy's best health insurance to make sure that all of the infections it should have didn't kill it. She jammed one of her PAK legs deep into the exposed back of the beast and jerked it to the left.

The monster stiffened and then collapsed on its front, carried by its momentum. She had cut right through its spinal cord. It still twitched and growled.

"Damn...this thing was certainly designed to be durable," Tak said. "I'm surprised that it wasn't given some redundant method of sending signals from its brain to its muscles."

"Please don't jinx it," BlackJack said, still trying to keep her Squeedlyspooch from coughing itself up through her mouth. "Just kill that thing and let's get the hell out of here."

"With pleasure," Tak moved to the beast's head and took a moment to examine it. Her expression was that of disgust, like the very sight of this thing had infected her with a disease. "Disgusting freak,"

TSEW! She fired once into its head, but it continued to move. She fired again and again until only a stump of the neck remained. "And stay dead this time!"

She then looked at BlackJack. "Tell me that you didn't willingly choose to travel with that other girl, that Janie. She was borderline useless."

"She's not exactly a heavy fighter like us," BlackJack admitted. "But she did her part in the plan and lured that thing away from you. Otherwise we'd probably be chasing that thing around the forest still."

"Well now that that thing is dead...I think it's time that I go and have a chat with Shadow now that I don't have to worry that my head will get torn off from behind," Tak cleaned some blood splatters off of her shirt. "Feel free to tag along if you would like."

"Knowing the others, they'll be after Shadow too," BlackJack nodded as Janie stumbled out of the bushes. She was wiping something off of her chin; she had thrown up somewhere along the way to meet up with the two. "Oh and I have a word of caution Tak."

Tak glanced at her.

"Rik doesn't like people showing attitude towards his crew, especially to Janie here." BlackJack omitted the part about De being his wife. She didn't want Tak and Janie to get into a fight along the way. She was not worried that one would kill the other-Janie was talented when it came to fighting regular Irkens...rather she was afraid they'd just waste too much time and the others would die because of it. "So no more 'anti-defective' talk from you."

Tak obviously recalled the rumors and facts about Rik. She knew he was a talented fighter, a near unstoppable shooter...she didn't want to find out if some of the rumors were in fact true by angering him. She nodded. "Alright, just don't slow me down, either of you."

"Lead on then, Captain." BlackJack patted Janie's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile before they followed Tak out of the valley.

Xxx

The inner doors leading to the lower levels of the Temple of the Cornerstone were kicked open. Rik stepped through with an odd swagger to his step that seemed too casual and silly for him. His entry was heard by several beings below. He looked down at the room that was perhaps a hundred feet below. The door led to a balcony that once had a bridge connecting it to a doorway on the far side of the room. The bridge had been destroyed by either time or battle over the endless centuries of desertion the Temple had suffered. The room below had been cleared of debris by Shadow when he had chosen to occupy the temple.

Rik was out of view of the occupants of the chamber, even the light emanating from the fluid within a large cylinder could not reach him. "So, daddy's Irken Branch really does have some visitors! He'd be so glad if he were here right now!"

Down below Belthiad produced a light from his PAK and aimed up, illuminating Rikalo. Shadow actually smiled a bit. "Well now this ought to be interesting to watch."

"Are those the two that this one has been looking for?" Rik demanded, pointing at Paneece and The Caterpillar's unconscious bodies. "As little as I care for Irkens I'll have to ask you to hand them over to me. I'd like this vessel to have more of a symbiotic relationship with me."

"Ah...so he took one of the stones after all," Shadow muttered. "Which one could you be...I've never been in the chamber myself."

"There was only one stone left in there to begin with you pantywaist moron," Rik leaped down from the balcony. The fall would have killed an Irken and left all of their limbs and perhaps most of the bones in their body broken...but he landed with a light 'tap' in a crouched position and stood up casually. His eyes had a bright orange pupil in the center, looking like a raging fire in the middle of the red irises.

"Chaos..."

"I prefer Carlos, or _the Carlos,_ or to avoid any communication issues...Carrick." Carlos, controlling Rik's body rolled the Irken's head from side to side. He listened to the 'pops' that came from the action and flashed Shadow a toothy grin. "Now if you don't mind; the prisoners."

"I'd like to, believe me." Shadow said. "I honestly have nothing against them that makes me want to hold them here or take their lives, but they have become a future threat to my empire."

"Oh so it's that excuse this time?" Carrik mused, hands on his hips. "Okay then, I'll play ball." He faced Belthiad, who drew his sword. "Or better yet, I'll play ball with this guy's skull! What a blast that'll be!"

Belthiad looked to Shadow, who nodded. The bounty hunter lunged and swung at Carrik's neck. The possessed Irken brought his left arm up...and the blade stopped against his flesh. His hand and most of the flesh on his forearm had become covered in black scales and were tipped with razor sharp claws. His other arm had a similar appearance now. They looked similar to the demonic head that represented Carlos when Rik had first met him in his mind.

"Ooh, you're fast!" Carrik nodded. "So am I!"

His right claws shot upwards. Belthiad danced back and swung his weapon down so it met with Carrik's hand and stopped it short of going up under his rib cage and attacking his vital organs. Carrik pulled back and began to exchange blows with Belthiad, who had to rely on dodging and blocking most of the time. Carrik was more flexible and never stood in one place for more than a few seconds-and that was only if he was pressing an attack.

His movements seemed so precise and accurate that they were beyond what a normal Irken could do. When Carrik jumped he could twist and bend so fast in mid air yet also land perfectly on his feet. He was definitely enjoying this, toying with Belthiad. The bounty hunter was beginning to lose steam after the first minute of combat, never having gone up against an opponent fuelled by Chaos Incarnate.

Belthiad slashed horizontally at Carrik's legs; his opponent leaped off of the ground while turning so that he was parallel to the ground and snapped his right leg out. It caught Belthiad in the neck and made him gag while Carrik used him as a base to jump from and rolled sideways through the air, once again landing on his feet perfectly. Carrik flexed his claws. "Oh yeah. This body is definitely my type: strong, fit, great cardio...this guy does a lot of running and jumping. The last schmuck who had me was a total couch potato!"

"So the Keeper finally decided to evict me," Shadow, who was standing by the tube containing the hybrid shook his head. "Well then it looks like I'll have to move my plans forward a bit-"

As he spoke the room shook. Then all of them suddenly appeared right in the center of it: Nick, Lok, Volt, Gaz, Zim and several tons of metal and wiring. They all collapsed as the effects of the long distance teleportation wore off.

"...Nick," Shadow for once sounded annoyed. "Why pray tell have you brought these people here with you? One of them being the Irken you were supposed to have _killed_ by now?"

"I...they had me cornered," Nick admitted. "I needed a new plan."

Shadow raised one hand and made a gesture for Nick to come closer. Instead Nick flew across the room and wound up held up by the neck. "I gave you a simple task: to eliminate one annoying midget of an Irken who is more self destructive than useful. You are a useful operative Nick but your recent accomplishments-if you can call them that are beginning to become a strain on my patience."

"I-I'm sorry-I-!"

Shadow set him down and gently placed one hand on his head. "Apologies do not fix mistakes Nick...but you can fix yours now and all is forgiven." That was more than Nick could ask for; with Tallest Red he would have been outright killed by now. Luckily Shadow was more practical and patient when it came to subordinates and their mistakes.

"Your wife and children still live in luxury among my people Nick...do not compromise that," Shadow whispered.

"Yes...my Tallest," Nick bowed his head and reached into his PAK. He produced a rifle that he had to unfold into its full shape.

"Are we done yet?" Carrik yawned, still dodging Belthiad's blows with a casual grace. He looked towards the four newcomers, calling upon Rik's memories to recognize three of them. "Hey, I don't suppose you guys could lend a hand here, could yah?"

"R-Rikalo, what's happened to you?" Zim stared at Carrik, or more specifically his hands.

"Please," Carrick sidestepped Belthiad's blade and swung his right fist up, hitting Belthiad with the back of it and knocking him away. "Call me Carrick, at least for now. Rikky's gotta take back control sometime."

DOWDOWDOW! Three shots were fired at Carrick by Senior. One left a hole in Carrick's side. The possessed Irken grunt and staggered, giving Belthiad the time to get up and cut his abdomen open. Carrick put one hand to the deeper wound to keep his organs from spilling out and sucked in a deep breath. The two injuries were surrounded by a red glow as they began to seal themselves up.

"Ah...well at least that little perk hasn't gone away." Carrick lowered his hand and pulled his shirt up to reveal that the only evidence of the cut was a blood stain.

"It healed so fast!" Belthiad backed up. "Shadow, what the hell is this thing?"

"It was once Rikalo...now it is something more," Shadow replied. "The Stone of Chaos is in him...carrying the very essence of Chaos Incarnate, a soul created by the Cornerstone of Light himself. They were kept in temples built to honor him, and sealed in a chamber through which only followers could pass through. It seems Rikalo was found worthy by the Keeper."

"You know a lot," Carrik observed. "Care to explain while I beat the snot out of these two? Something I apparently will have to do _all by myself_ by the way!" He raised his voice specifically so that Zim, Gaz, Volt and Lok would hear him. "Lok come on already! Rik's memory showed that you weren't a slouch! Get off your ass and help out!"

Lok stood up and checked himself for damage. "Alright Rik, I'll take the green-" The words died in his mouth as his gaze rested on Tallest Shadow. At that point he finally seemed to notice the Tallest and vice versa. Their eyes met, and everybody felt as though the air was crackling between the two of them.

"Lok..." Shadow suddenly donned an expression of pure hatred. "You never should have come here!"

"Oh well when you have your monster stalking innocent Irkens you just know I can't resist stepping in!" Lok's blades heated up as they slid out of his gauntlets. "And by the way, I figured out your so called 'unstoppable' pet's weakness: heat, and lots of it!"

"You two know each other?" Carrick tilted back far enough that Belthiad missed decapitating him and then back flipped in time to avoid a shot from Nick aimed at his legs. He was taking all of this in stride, but then again if he was fuelled by chaos then a fight was his natural environment. "Well that should give us all some badly needed answers."

Lok suddenly dashed forward. Nick saw him and adjusted his aim; the purple eyed Irken's helmet slammed shut over his head again and a shield popped up around him as Nick fired. The laser shot bounced off and struck the tank containing the hybrid. Amazingly the tank was intact...but a crack could be seen forming.

"Be careful! Rik's pet won't be happy if it wakes up!" Shadow called. "Leave this one to me."

"Pet? Rik has a pet?" Carrik wondered. "He sure doesn't remember this...whatever it is-I'm trying to have a conversation here, cut it out!" He punched Belthiad in the ribs and then slashed him across the face. This left three parallel scars going past his right eye and towards the left side of his jaw.

Lok leaped right over Senior, who let him go and focused on Zim, Volt and Gaz. The two Irkens were hiding behind the metal star ship components that had been dragged along with them through time and space while Gaz was activating her arm mounted plasma gun.

Belthiad and Carrik were much closer to the raise section of the room where the hybrid tank was positioned. The former dashed up the stairs half way and then leaped off. The superior position gave him a better height to jump from so that he could swing down on Carrik during his descent. The possessed Irken raised one scaled arm-the sleeves of his shirt and coat being reduced to ribbons by this point and let the blade hit.

The impact shattered the metal entirely! Belthiad gasped in shock before a punch from Carrik launched him back. He rolled and bounced before hitting a wall. Carrik wiped his palms on one another and then placed them on his hips. "Enough playing around now, I haven't had any fun in thousands of years and I don't intend to let this opportunity go to waste."

He advanced on the stunned Belthiad. "So I'll enjoy this...but you won't. Because you're about to get a taste," He grinned, showing that his zipper teeth had become sharper and oddly a pearly white colour, "Of _the Carlos._"

"I'd reconsider that if I were you, Rikalo!"

Carrik paused, one fist reared back in preparation to pound on Belthiad some more. He looked towards the main entrance...where Rikalo, formerly of the Holy Irken Empire stood. He tossed Kronos out into the middle of the room. The psychic hybrid was battered but did not seem to be much worse than when Rik had left him.

"You shouldn't abandon your friends on a planet like this," Rikalo sneered as he held up the form in his other hand. "But you especially shouldn't abandon your _wife._" He was holding De up off of the ground easily with one hand. She was unconscious and visibly bruised. "Oh don't get me wrong, she put up a fight, but in the end I'm still the better fighter than her. She made a mistake in not telling you about me."

"You...what the hell are you?" Carrik's voice changed, the orange pupils in his eyes vanished. The Rikalo of this universe had retaken control of his body. The claws and scales seemed to melt away and leave normal green Irken skin and fingers.

"Don't you know?" Alt-Rikalo grinned. "I'm you! Who else could have a face this handsome?" He tossed De Rien aside. "Now how about you stop wasting time with the bounty hunter...and let me give you something I've been saving just for you for all of these _years._"

"You hurt De..." Rik growled, hands balling up into fists. "I don't know how the florp you can be real, but you're gonna be in five very real _pieces_ in the next minute!"

"Well I guess we both have something in common," Alt-Rik shed the coat he wore. "Neither of us likes it when people hit us where it really hurts."

Rik had his gun cleared of its holster faster than anybody could blink, but Alt-Rik matched his speed. They held each other at gun point, fingers on the triggers of their respective weapon. Their pose and glare were mirror images, and no doubt their accuracy would be just as similar.

Two universes were about to collide.

Xxx

End of Chapter

Yep, I just had to get Carlos into this somehow. Expect that same lovable personality...but from the equivalent of a real demon.

Anything in bold letters means that that character has been shown in this chapter.

Group 1**: Rikalo (with Carlos)/ De Rien, Kronos / Zim, Volt, Lok, Gaz**

Group 2**: **Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene, Tenn, Rine, Drosco

Group 4: Grim, Skoodge

Group 5: Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment

Group 6**: Janie, BlackJack, Tak**/ Credaran, Elay


	29. Apocalypse Arc, Life

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

**IMPORTANT**

This story is nearing its end, but is by no means the end of Rik's adventure. I am about...70-75 percent through this if I am correct. There will be a sequel up.

Now I have to try and bring all six or so groups together, so I'll try and use each chapter to focus on one or two each. As such I will list the characters that will be the focus of this chapter. Most roles will most likely be small and brief but this is mostly just to get all of the storylines to come together.

**Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene, Tenn, Rine, Drosco**

**Grim, Skoodge**

Xxx

Envon, despite being so tall was surprisingly flexible and difficult for the spear wielder to hit. He wouldn't hold still long enough for the assailant to take a swing at him or one of his companions would attack from another direction and draw them off. Seeing that they were cornered, the spear wielded leaped up and landed on the mezzanine used by Skullene and Frequency earlier. Envon launched himself up first using his PAK legs.

As he landed the spear wielder rushed forward and swung at him; they were aiming to slice through his knees. Instead Envon leaped up and one knee collided with the spear wielder's head. This knocked their hood loose...revealing a Planet Jacker of all things. Most Planet Jackers never left their home planet unless it was to steal another planet to fuel their star with-though after most remaining planets in range were occupied by warring factions they just decided to do the smart thing and move their own planet to another star system. Even then their females were kept on their home world at all times after a plague created by the Crimson Empire reduced the fertility rate drastically.

The Planet Jackers were far from endangered, but they were working hard to make sure their population didn't begin to decline. So then how did this one manage to get away from the constant surveillance of the rather authoritarian Planet Jacker government? She was more than young but less than old, a full adult in the prime of her life. Her lime green eyes bore holes through him as she glared. "What are you looking at, Irken?"

"A Planet Jacker working for Tallest Shadow? Well that's new," Envon muttered, standing up from where he had landed.

"He pays well enough," The Planet Jacker spat.

Then Tenn shot up from over the nearby edge and jabbed two of her PAK legs forward. They knocked one of the dual tipped spears out of the Planet Jacker's hands and left a vicious but shallow cut on her exposed side. Turning, she swung her spear down and cut deep into Tenn's shoulders. The red eyed Irken girl cried out and fell backwards against the Monarch, who caught and steadied her. She set Tenn aside and gently instructed her to remain out of the fight.

"Ten'va!" The Planet Jacket turned to the speaker: the second fighter who had appeared to help Frequency. He took off his hood to reveal that he was a Planet Jacker like her; a male with lime green eyes who could have been her brother. He was larger than her and both of his opponents. "Shadow's silent alarm went off on our radio! Turn yours on and get back to the containment room, we're regrouping!"

He brought his sword up and flipped it into a reverse grip. It blocked a knife swung by Drosco. The Sheyi spun and cut with his other knife. It dug into the Planet Jacker's armour and drew some blood, but was far from fatal. The swordsman snarled and struck Drosco in the side of the head. This knocked the orange eyed Irken down, but Rine leaped in delivered a devastating blow to the swordsman's face that sent him flying back.

Drosco noticed a shimmer in the air around Rine's fists. "Are those...?"

"Kinetic Force Amps," Rine nodded. "Not exactly lethal except at close range and at full power but they can send a truck flying." He helped Drosco up. "Now come on, they're getting away!"

The five chased after the Planet Jacker duo. Envon glanced back, concerned for Skullene but remembered that she could take care of herself...

He just hoped that he didn't lose her all over again, along with Paneece.

Xxx

Skoodge and Grim had fled from the circular chamber and down what Grim's compass said was a western corridor. Miyuki was following them, as Skoodge had only wounded her when he had saved Grim. He had been aiming for her head and instead shot her in the arm. This gave Grim enough time to break free and run away with his saviour. They came to a dead end further down though.

"Alright, we make our stand here then!" Grim activated his scythe's energy blade again and faced the approaching creature. "Come on! You won't fool me this time!"

Skoodge bravely held up his rifle despite how he was shaking from head to toe. He was here to save his friends and emperor and he wouldn't stop until he succeeded or died. He felt confident that Grim stood next to him. Having a living legend of the Old Empire brought in some pretty good odds for whomever his allies were after all.

Miyuki slowed down, moving in a zigzag pattern towards them. She was going agonizingly slow to savour the moment or draw it out...or maybe this was the real Miyuki brought back by some sick experiment and she felt hesitance to attack her son. Either way Grim held his scythe at the ready to cut her to pieces; he did not intend to let her make him drop his guard again. She reached out...

And then stopped right before Grim swung his scythe; but the blade fell short by mere inches. He had thought that Miyuki would keep going and had been aiming to slice her hands off. Miyuki looked...terrified for some reason. "No..."

"Be ready," Grim whispered without taking his eyes off her.

"No...Skully..." Miyuki looked up as though she could see through the layers of stone and earth.

"Skully?" Grim tensed. "What do you know about Skullene?"

"...she needs me," Miyuki whispered.

"Oh the hell she does!" Grim snapped. "You're just some copy of our mother, probably with some memory implants to make it look genuine!" He was shaking-with fury, not fear. "You stay away from my little sister or I swear I'll-"

SLAP! The blow had caught Grim off guard...it was a slap; it didn't even hurt too badly. Miyuki hissed at him. "Never speak to me like that! Never tell me what I feel!"

Something was happening; a bump had appeared on each of her hands. Slowly the skin was stretched until it tore and revealed two gems that seemed to be fused to Miyuki's skin and possibly the bones beneath it. One looked like the most beautiful diamond Grim had ever seen-though he was sure that it was anything but a diamond. The other was red like a ruby...but it was actually clear, transparent; rather it was the contents of it that was red. Red blood filled the second gem entirely.

"Skully...hold on," Miyuki whispered before raising the hand with the diamond like gem in it: her right hand. It flashed, and then she was gone.

"Why was she so...concerned about Skullene?" Skoodge wondered, finally setting his rifle down with a sigh of relief.

"Damn it if she isn't already hurt then that thing will kill her if it finds her!" Grim shut off his scythe and looked at his companion. "Can you run?"

"Yeah, I've got plenty of energy left!" Skoodge nodded.

"We have to find Skullene," Grim said urgently. "We never should have split into teams here. We have to find her before whatever that thing is gets to her!"

"Grim...what if that thing really is Miyuki?"

"...it can't be," Grim shook his head. "She was devoured, her body converted into energy and...There wouldn't be enough left to even clone. How were they able to create that monster?"

"Well it's real...and it knows about you," Skoodge said. "Whether or not it really cares that Skullene is hurt doesn't matter though. You're right; we have to find her first. So let's go!"

Xxx

As for what happened to Skullene...

Frequency's blades shattered moments after the fight in the main hall had ended. He had backed Skullene up to an edge that had been formed by the floor of the room seeming to break into a number of segments that formed plateaus of different height. This particular crevice was narrow thanks to the wall of a much higher plateau making up the far side. She was standing near the edge and trying to keep her balance due to the floor being slanted just enough, and Frequency was charging right for her.

He launched himself forward and jabbed his right knife forward. Skullene shifted in a way that made him think she planned to dodged; at the last second she grabbed his outstretched arm and twisted clockwise while forcing the limb up. Frequency's blade collided with the bedrock that the floor had been built over at full speed and shattered against it. The action had also sent pain shooting up his right wrist, perhaps the result of a fracture.

He sucked in air and backed away. He brought his other knife up in defence against Skullene only for the blade to shatter against the full force of Skullene's stronger arm blade.

"Skully you're really askin' for me to feed you to a man in a grey suit."

"A _what?_"

"A shark," Frequency replied, only getting a confused stare in response. "A big man eatin' shark? Prowls water and eat people, at least in movies and all that."

"...I think that's an Earth animal I heard of...not sure..." A lot of knowledge on the fabled planet of Earth-proven real by the existence of Gaz Membrane had been accidently introduced to society after data files sent at random by Zim during his 'invasion' were dispersed. People took up interest and even used terms often used by the 'hyoooomans' (as Zim called them in his texts). But with Skullene having kept to herself on the far reaches of occupied space she only had brief glimpses of these files.

"Bottom line, you're messin' with my mojo," Frequency looked at his wrist and saw that it was indeed fractured. "I'll have to end this quick."

He produced an object: disc shaped 5 inches wide and perhaps half an inch tall. He tossed it up so it landed on the makeshift plateau behind him and out of view of both fighters. Then Skullene's antennae twitched a bit as she began to pick up high pitched levels of noise...

"Let me tell you one reason why I'm so good at my job, beach bunny," Frequency grinned. "I'm a bona fide surfer, but not just on water. Any type of wave there is..._I'll surf it where ever it goes._"

"And that thing you just dropped...is sending out sound waves," Skullene tensed, "Vrik na tishanti!"

Then Frequency was gone. He had jumped, his whole body seemed to shrink and crumble in on itself in the blink of an eye and then shoot off as a speck sized object...

_Thoom!_

Skullene was struck from behind. She turned and managed to grab Frequency by the shirt...and was tugged along literally at the speed of sound when he travelled on sound waves again. They reappeared by the entrance they had used to gain access to the room earlier. Skullene exhaled right before Frequency punched her hard enough to make her stumble back into the doorway.

"Those sound waves are pretty much travelling all over these catacombs babe," Frequency informed her while casually walking towards the dazed Irken. "It ain't easy the first time you surf the sound waves, then again it ain't easy surfing anything the first time."

"So you can pretty much teleport anywhere," Skullene said. "That's essentially the way to describe it."

"You might as well call it that," Frequency nodded. "Sorry to do this to you again Skully, but I'm getting real sick and tired of you butting your antennae into my business. I didn't enjoy having to kill you once, but with no Miyuki here to cry over you it'll be a little easier to deal." He held up his good hand and flexed it...and Skullene saw the gem embedded into his flesh. There was one on his injured wrist too. They were bright green and glowing.

She hadn't noticed them before...because until Frequency had used his 'wave riding' ability they hadn't been glowing. This gave her an idea, but she'd have to survive long enough to put it into action. Frequency vanished on the spot; the sound of a bare foot hitting the stone floor behind her gave the ex-Invader enough time to duck under the chest high round house kick the mercenary had sent her way. She turned clockwise and shot her right leg out right into Frequency's balance foot. This knocked it right out from under him and made the momentum of his kick carry him through the air in a twisting motion.

He landed on his front and felt the breath get knocked out of him. Skullene leaped on him before he could use the sound waves to get out of range and slid her lower legs under him. She locked her legs tightly around him, compressing his stomach and pressing against the small of his back. Gasping and coughing, Frequency rode the sound waves into the air in the center of the room.

Skullene held on tight by wrapping one arm around his thin, slender frame and using the other to reach for his good hand. She grabbed his wrist and wrestled with him as they fell towards the ground. In the end Skullene landed on the bottom and gasped. She accidently released Frequency, who leaped out of range and turned to face her...

"Alright, easy victory," He sighed in relief. "I didn't want to keep on going with you like this. You actually had the right idea there."

"W-what are you...?" Then Skullene realized that something was wrong. She turned onto her front and saw shards of metal on the ground where she had landed. She felt something turn on...

Her life clock, starting at ten minutes, because the PAK on her back was crushed by the devastating impact she had just endured. It had taken all of the weight of herself and Frequency and because of that she had ten minutes to live.

Slowly her functions would begin to cease, her memory would go, and she would revert to a smeet like persona...

**0:07**

The devastated look on her face told Frequency that he had won the battle. He turned away and picked up his sound emitter, flicking it off casually and pocketing it. "Good fight babe, sorry that it had to go down like this. Just lay down and I'll tell Shadow where to find you later-"

THUNK!

"AH!" His back arched while his hands reached around for the source of the pain that shot through him. He pulled it out and saw a knife coated in his blood. He looked at Skullene and saw her lowering her left arm to her belt; she pulled out a fresh knife. "Come on dudette, it's over. You're dead in ten minutes."

**0:24**

"Maybe...but I won't let you hurt my friends," Skullene growled. "If I'm gonna die...you're going with me."

"Aw great I got a suicidal heroic Skullene," Frequency groaned.

He had to get this wound treated before he bled out. Skullene's aim was spot on; obviously her accuracy had not degraded yet. Frequency grabbed the only weapon he had yet to drop: a small pistol kept in an inner-holster built into his shorts. Pulling back on the slid, he checked the energy cell and saw the meter built into the side glowing blue to indicate that the gun was cool and had no built up heat within it.

**0:36**

Skullene started forward when she saw the weapon and stumbled. She could feel the effects of her PAK being utterly destroyed now. The dizziness lifted and she threw herself to the side to avoid a lethal shot from Frequency. She was about to deploy her PAK legs when she remembered that her PAK had been destroyed...how had she forgotten in the first place?

Her momentary distraction almost let Frequency blow a hole through her head. She rolled over an edge and dropped to the lower plateau a few feet below. She drew one of her own lasers and fired up at the edge when she saw a flash of blue and red colour beginning to peak into view. She rushed to find an edge she could climb on and make her way back up. She had to end this; she couldn't let him get away.

**0:47**

Frequency saw her before she saw him as she reached the highest parts of the collapsed floor. His shot his her left arm and spun her around. She collapsed on her side, groaning as she felt another wave of dizziness assault her. She grabbed the weapon and kept running to find a better position to fire from. She threw herself forward in a roll to throw off Frequency's am-at least enough that he wouldn't be able to target a critical area on her. He fired twice and missed both time, she stopped behind a crumbling pillar.

She stuck out from behind the structure and returned fire, one laser passing close to Frequency. The next two were further off. When he brought his own gun up she threw herself away from the pillar and dashed to Frequency's left as he fired quickly only for his gun to stop after the third shot when he had been about to compensate for her erratic movements and speed. It had overheated. "Damn!"

**1:04**

He quickly pulled back on the slide and watched as steam vented from the barrel of the weapon. Skullene was now coming right at him! She raised her gun, only to stumble once more. Frequency took advantage of her slowly declining physical and mental capacity to meet her head on in a tackle. The counterattack knocked Skullene's weapon away, but before Frequency could pin her down she grabbed a rock and slammed it into his head.

**1:09**

Now he was the one who saw the world spinning and turning around him. Skullene got up and kicked him in the ribs hard enough to make him roll over a nearby edge and drop 5 feet, luckily the majority of the segments of destroyed floor closer to the intact parts of the room not having as bad a fall. He looked up and shoved himself off of the floor and into leap, using it to dodge Skullene when she jumped down after him.

"Girlie you really gotta know when to just lie down and die," The blue furred bounty hunter hissed, teeth barred and yellow eyes narrowed in a feral glare. "I'm not gonna waste any more time with you."

He reached for his sound emitter, only to find it and the bag containing the rest of his equipment missing. Skullene held it up and then dropped it down a crevice between two segments of floor. He wouldn't be seeing those again, no doubt about it.

"And I'm not going to let you waste anymore of my time," She growled. "If I'm dying then I'm going to see my son one more ti-" She gasped as something took hold of her from behind with incredible strength. She couldn't break free.

**1:24**

"Frequency, you should have just shot her and got it over with at the start," The white haired, pink eyed human who had Skullene's arms pinned to her sides said. His stony expression made Frequency shivered.

"Tried to kill her, but this beach bunny's one real lioness,"

"No excuses, I'll do your job." The newcomer said before Skullene felt a tingling sensation...

**1:35**

**2:47**

**4:15**

**6:58**

"W-what are you doing?" Skullene panicked upon seeing her time reduced from over eight minutes to just barely over three in seconds.

"I'm what you would call a Chronokinetic," The human said, releasing Skullene with her life clock left at just over a minute. "Since you're about to die I won't bother introducing myself."

"Wow...that's cold even for you White," Frequency said, relaxing. "Aw well, at least it'll be a lot quicker for her."

Skullene was left in shock on her knees, unable to comprehend this...literally. Her mind was scrambled and she was slowly losing her ability to retain memory...

**9:08**

"H-help..." She whimpered, now with the mindset of a smeet as she hugged herself. "Maneeme...help..."

She didn't know her parents were dead...

**9:12**

Frequency looked down at Skullene, a glimmer of pity in his eyes. "This...White let's just get it over with already."

"You planned to let this happen to her," White replied, grabbing him by the arm. "Now come on, Shadow has tons of company in the containment chamber and if he dies our pay checks go bye-bye." He pulled Frequency away harshly.

"I-I don't wanna die..." Skullene bawled, curling in on herself.

**9:28**

She fell onto her side, shivering...

Then she heard White and Frequency yell before they landed near her. A pair of arms gently scooped her up.

"M-maneeme...?"

"Yes my Skully..." Miyuki whispered, cradling her as though she were still a smeet. "It's alright...maneeme will make it all better."

The stone in her white hand glowed again.

**9:40**

The pieces of Skullene's PAK came together, holding position by Skullene where the remains of the PAK itself were still attached to her. Her eyes shut as her body began to entirely shut own.

"Life..." Miyuki kissed Skullene on the forehead. "Repair that...which was undone..."

As she spoke, metal and fibres began to reconnect despite being smashed, bent and crushed out of shape. Soon Skullene's PAK was restored to its normal shape.

**9:50**

For a moment nothing happened...and then Skullene's eyes shot open. She gasped, scrambling out of Miyuki's grasp and falling to the ground before the serpent like Irken. Coughing, she slowly regained her memories, senses and functions. Looking up, she saw Miyuki look down at her adoringly. "You...Miyuki..."

"Yes, dewo smeet," Miyuki cooed. "I am back."

She embraced the stunned Skullene, who was still trying to process the fact that she had been rescued by what she thought was the ghost of her dead mother...

Then she smiled and wrapped her arms around Miyuki, too overcome to wonder how and why this would happen...dead Irkens don't come back to life. And Miyuki had been devoured and scattered through an ever growing gelatinous mass.

But here she was, holding her like she used to so many years ago and just like how Skullene held Rine.

Xxx

End of Chapter

Yep, I just had to get Carlos into this somehow. Expect that same lovable personality...but from the equivalent of a real demon.

Anything in bold letters means that that character has been shown in this chapter.

Group 1: Rikalo (with Carlos)/ De Rien, Kronos / Zim, Volt, Lok, Gaz

Group 2: **Envon, Tak (The Monarch), Skullene, Tenn, Rine, Drosco**

Group 4: **Grim, Skoodge**

Group 5: Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment

Group 6: Janie, BlackJack, Tak/ Credaran, Elay


	30. Apocalypse Arc, Battle Royale P1

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

And to shorten these chapters I'll be skipping the flashback and mysterious narrator for a bit, at least until I can use them without making a 15 page long chapter.

**Credaran, Elay**

**Caterpillar, Paneece, Rik Fragment**

**Rik, De Rien, Kronos, Zim, Volt, Lok, Gaz, Envon, Drosco, Tenn, Tak (The Monarch) Rine**

Xxx

Credaran fired his rifle again. "Hurry up Elay!" He reached down and grabbed the Irken's hand as she tried to climb up the rocky slope and tugged her along. He made sure that she was climbing up past him before turning his attention to the rock monster that was crawling after them.

One of its tails reached far past where its bloated body was and sliced down. Credaran threw himself out of the way of the crescent shaped blade on the tip before it could cut him in half down the middle, then he snapped his rifle up and fired at the stem of the elongated appendage. His shots actually tore through it in areas that he had not noticed before, nestled between the rock armour that covered the beast. It looked like normal flesh and tore like normal flesh.

The tail was snapped in half when the rock beast pulled back on it. Roaring in frustration and from the pain it no doubt felt the rock beast lunged and swung both claws down. They fell short of Credaran by several feet, but the earth and rocks were shaken loose close to the two fighters. Credaran looked down before part of the slop began to move out of place. "Oh cr-_aaaap!_"

Both the monster and the Veniran plummeted down the side of the hill while Elay watched with growing despair. When they both reached the bottom and were buried under the collection of earth and stone she began to slide down. "Credaran!"

Luckily the Veniran was already climbing out and dusting himself off...the bad news was that the rock beast was also out! Credaran spun and looked for his rifle only to find it bent ninety degrees halfway down the barrel. If he tried to use it the gun would explode. Instead Credaran leaped into the air and sank his claws into an area of the creature that was no longer covered by that seemingly impenetrable armour. Blood poured from it like a fountain as the Veniran slashed and ripped through tissue.

"_Overgrown dirt licker," _The Rock Beast hissed while raising its other tail rising in preparation to slice Credaran at an angle that would kill him but not damage the beast's body. _"Your precious empire will be the next to return to Irken Dominion when Shadow is finished with the lesser Irkens!"_

The tail swung, but Credaran jumped off of the beast in a back flip and grabbed onto the stem of the tail as he fell past it. The tail swung up into the air, taking the Veniran with it. Elay took this chance to shoot at the exposed sections of flesh on the Rock Beast. It turned its attention to her, but made the mistake of bringing its tail low enough and close to its head. Credaran dropped from it and extended two thin blades that curved near the end from each gauntlet of his armour.

He jammed them down against the beast's fat neck. One went in after finding a gap in the armour, but the other glanced off of the material and left Credaran less secure than he would have liked. He looked up as the Rock Beast kept on turning back and forth at random in an effort to shake him off. The one good tail was positioning itself to strike down at him. He rolled to the right and hung off of the side of the beast just as the blade swiped through where he had been.

This position was straining his arm rather painfully, so Credaran hooked his left blades on another damaged section of armour on the head. He wrenched on those blades, pulling at the rocky scales until finally it began to peel off and take flesh with it. Now the Rock Beast was bucking heavily, focusing more on getting rid of the unbearable feeling of its skin being torn off with its armour. But despite its best efforts Credaran popped the armour off, and the force of his movements made him turn so his front was pressed against the neck of the beast. He dug his left blades into soft tissue again and began to climb up onto its back.

"Elay, do something about that tail before it knocks my head off!" He growled into his communicator while pressing himself flat against the Rock Beast. The tail swung over him again.

Elay's gun fired again and missed several times before she managed to follow the swaying movements of the appendages. The next few shots bounced off of the thinner armour-which was covering the tail in an array of tens of thousands of tiny 'scales' before one shot struck the extremely sensitive and unprotected flesh.

"_You...you can't..." _The Rock Beast growled feebly. _"I...Lord Shadow brought me back like this...for a purpose...I can't..."_

"You can, and you will," Credaran cut the beast off as he swung himself onto the front of its head and reared back his right arm while his left kept him hanging by the ridges on the beast's head. "Now be a good freak and die."

"_NOOOO!_" Credaran had expected such a response, but just as he drove his right blades down through the beast's left eye he didn't expect for a curved blade to burst from between his ribs. It was at a bit of an angle, having not gone through his spine. The beast had managed to move its tail around fast enough and impaled Credaran on it before the few tendons and muscles keeping it attached snapped. As the tail flopped to the ground it slid out of Credaran on its own accord.

The Veniran gasped, blood pouring from both his wound and mouth as he fell. He felt the ground shake as the Rock Beast collapsed next to him, heard Elay as she called his name...

Then he felt nothing.

(I haven't decided if he dies yet or not)

Xxx

The next room that they were forced to enter was the lounge Paneece knew to be used by the Tallest in her universe; in The Caterpillar's it was a chapel. When they stepped inside she was not even fazed by the room changing itself; she was no longer disoriented by the experience...

However she was immensely confused by the change of setting it had undertaken. The room they were in looked fit for an emperor; complete with a fantastic view of Irk, a comfy bed surrounded by drapes. There was even a mezzanine above the bed that gave an even better view through the massive window that took up half of the room's curving wall...

And on that mezzanine stood their next foe, leaning against the railing and picking petals off of some flowers in a lovely vase set next to him. Without a doubt he was Lust-judging by both the relaxed environment, the fragrance in the air that made Paneece want to purr and the garment this new Rik wore. It looked like the one Drosco wore, a Sheyi styled deep red wrap around skirt with no shirt. He also seemed to take Rik's features and enhance them.

For an Irken Rikalo-both Rikalos could be considered attractive because of their average heights and steady builds, but this one took the cake. His skin was also a deeper shade of green, having none of the real Rik's scars. He opened his eyes, a lovely and flawless ruby red colour and glanced down at them. "Oh, you finally reached here?" Even his voice was alluring.

"Lust," Rik said as calmly as he could. "Can you cut down the pheromones?"

"You can do it yourself," Lust shrugged, giggling a bit as he saw their discomfort. "Just focus like you always have."

Paneece exhaled and did as Lust instructed, slowly willing the pheromones to vanish...and her next breath did not cause her to react. However she did notice that The Caterpillar was holding her close with an arm around her waist. He released her and shook his head, muttering an apology. Lust clapped his hands and then stepped down to the first floor of the room. "Good...though if somebody still has the urge to give in to some animal instincts then the bed's right there."

"I will ask you nicely only once," The Caterpillar said. "Let us by, now. We are trying to save you and I would prefer to do it with as little cruelty as possible."

"Oh I won't fight you...and neither will Greed." Lust shrugged before he pulled aside the curtains of the bed...

"Holy-!" The Caterpillar covered Paneece's eyes while Rik grimaced.

On the bed rested another version of Rik. He was dressed in an all white version of the Fragment's clothes. He also had rings and an expensive necklace on...

And his torso was utterly ripped open, his ribs sticking up into the air with his Squeedlyspooch hanging out in many pieces. His blood had soaked the bed through. His eyes had been plucked out and were resting in his hands. He had also been essentially crucified, his arms held out and his legs together. The most disturbing of all was that hit lower jaw was gone along with most of his throat, and what little left was ravaged.

"Honestly, I still say he's a bigger man-whore than I am," Lust said. "All that money didn't help him when I heard you were coming...oh and I meant to clean this up _before_ anybody gets to submitting to those animal urges I mentioned earlier."

"You...did this?" The Caterpillar could not hide the surprise...more like terrified shock in his voice.

"Despite popular belief, I'm one of the stronger ones down here, just don't..._flaunt it as much,_" Lust grinned, strolling towards the trio. Then he was right by Paneece's side and caressing her antennae. "Such lovely curls..."

On instinct Paneece swatted his hand away, but he was already by The Caterpillar and stroking his jaw line. "Aw...and age hasn't done a thing to you. You're still as adorable as ever, buddy!" He hugged The Caterpillar, who blushed lightly.

"And you..." Lust was then in front of Rik. "As handsome as we are I don't believe in incest, even I've got limits."

"Surprisingly," Rik replied. "Lookin' good as usual by the way. So...why kill Greed?"

"I'm an impatient Irken," Lust shrugged again. "I wanted to meet you all personally, and I even let Sloth sit in on it!"

They all tensed as Lust pointed up...to where another Irken was now sitting on the railing of the mezzanine. He wore a pair of loose pants and an officer's coat that was opened to reveal a bare chest that was surprisingly firm despite the name of this Irken. One leg was dangling, swaying back and forth while the other was curled to Sloth's chest with both arms crossed over it.

"'Sup?" He asked.

"...you two are surprisingly...non-threatening about this," Rik observed. "Shouldn't you be trying to kill us just about now? Instead you kill Greed and let Sloth in?"

"Well...I don't want to fight you all, and neither does Sloth." Lust said while stroking The Caterpillar's antennae, watching the tips bounce lightly. "I want something from you though...in return for passage. You see the Fragment there survives on his own, he doesn't need a fuel source but I and Sloth and the others require something else...Gluttony survives off of fulfillment, Pride survives off of accomplishment. Sloth survives off of relaxing memories, and I...I survive off of the best memories you can think of. But Rik hasn't been doing much of that lately, actually not since Red and Purple went and sterilized the whole Irken race."

Lust pouted. "I want a memory, any memory that is pleasurable...the fulfillment of physical desire. Give me one and you can go."

"Does the couch potato want one too?" The Caterpillar pointed up at Sloth.

"Nah," Sloth shrugged. "I'm fine. Lust can you clean up that bed, I'm fixin' for a nap."

"Your nineteenth one in the past twelve hours, yes," Lust nodded and waved one hand, making Greed's corpse and blood vanished from the bed.

"Sweet," Sloth then let himself fall from the railing and right through the canopy over the bed. He landed on the mattress and yawned. "G'night."

Lust faced the three. "Give me a memory and you will only have one more of use to face...and I will even give you an advantage over Envy."

"That depends on the advantage then," Paneece interjected.

"Well Greed didn't get crushed by a pile of gold, I simply tore him open with my bare hands," Lust sighed dreamily. "I killed him as easily as I could kill any of you. I can give you this ability to use against Envy and the passage to him you desire."

"...I'll give you a memory," The Caterpillar sighed.

"Ooh so selfless!" Lust took The Caterpillar's hand and kissed it. "Let me see..."

A smoke like substance slithered from Lust's mouth as he exhaled. It coiled and formed a ring...within with images formed like watching a TV screen. It was...The Caterpillar and The Monarch back when they were simply Darithil and Tak, on the evening that they were wed and...

And what a memory it was. A deep, loving glance...hands caressing, arms wrapped around each other and soft, luscious lips...the pure, unbridled joy of free mating...the very first time he and his Monarch had made love, basking in the afterglow, just watching her sleep, one hand tenderly stroking her...

"Oh my..." Lust reached out, one hand dipping into the smoke as though it were made of fluid instead. He examined the memory, seeming confused. "...I asked for a memory like this but...I didn't think you'd give me one so important."

"My wife and I have mated with dozens of others, both human and Irken," The Caterpillar turned away. "Seeing this go might relieve me of some of the guilt I feel whenever I remember our wedding."

Lust's hand sank into the image, which then began to move down his arm and vanish into his mouth. He inhaled once...and gasped. Coughing a bit, Lust put his hands on his stomach. "...Rik never had a memory like this before...he never felt..."

"He never found a woman he would marry," The Caterpillar admitted. "Though he found many who consented to help him relieve the stress of his daily life. I never faulted him for it...but despite his good nature he never felt love..._you_ never felt love."

"But still...to give me something like that...nobody Rik takes here ever gives me something so special." Lust confessed.

"I've got plenty of great memories." The Caterpillar said gently. "And I'm going to be making plenty more. If I was going to pass any along, they ought to be about the things I care for most. That makes them more worthwhile."

Lust sat down on the edge of the bed by Sloth's bare feet, bowing his head in a fashion that looked like he was ashamed...and he was. He had seen genuine love, and he was merely a pale imitation to it. "...just go." He whispered, a door appearing to their right and opening to admit them. "Your blows will now kill Envy. His room is the art room...where you posed for sculptures."

The Caterpillar nodded. "I thought as much...thank you." He gave Lust a tender kiss on the forehead.

But as he moved to pull away Lust grabbed his hand. Suddenly the same material making up the memory Lust had consumed flowed from his skin and into The Caterpillar's. "I...I couldn't keep it." Lust wiped his eyes as tears slowly formed.

"I'm Lust...not Love; I'm not supposed to...cry..." Lust sounded like he had realized something.

"People change," Rik said. "I think you just did."

Lust smiled. "Yes...I did. Thank you...now get going, Envy is waiting for you...and I guarantee he is the strongest of us all."

Then a force pulled them through the door, but The Caterpillar had enough time to turn and shout. "Thank you, Love!" Then the doors shut

Lust wiped the tears from his eyes. "Love...sounds warm...I like it...it's about time this mind had some Love to give again."

Xxx

Both Riks fought with their fists and feet. Though Rik would have loved to let Carlos take over partially and become Carrik he did not yet know how to do this. Alt-Rik on the other hand was simply withholding his powers for the sheer fun of it. He was a bit more of a heavy hitter than Rik to begin with, so Rik was not too confident in an easy victory. Around them the battle had escalated when two Planet Jackers burst in followed by most of Envon's rescue team.

The moment The Monarch and Tenn saw The Caterpillar and Paneece they rushed to keep them safe from all of the fighting by dragging them to a nearby corner and standing guard. They also moved De Rien and Kronos to that corner out of concern. For a moment it looked like the combined teams would overwhelm Shadow and his companions-having unanimously decided to wait until later to exchange stories of how they arrived. But then multiple Inquisitors seemed to crawl out of the floor through puddles of black liquid and took up the fight for their Tallest.

Leading them was Galla, who immediately faced off with Envon. "Ah...so this is Tallest Blue?" He nodded while examining Envon, who was unfolding his PAK legs as he rushed towards him. "Not bad, not bad," Then he leaned to his left, just barely dodging the first PAK leg Envon thrust forward to cleave him in half. "Fast too!"

The Inquisitor flexed his claws and began to fend off Envon's attacks, each of his swings leaving scratches in the metal PAK legs that began to get deeper. Envon became more cautious, withdrawing his metal appendages and seemingly choosing to fight with his bare hands. Galla darted forward, keeping low to the ground to avoid shots from one of the other battles raging around him striking his unprotected sides or back. He slashed upward, crossing both of his arms one over the other in the same movement.

Envon jumped to the right and scarcely avoided being disemboweled by the attack. He let Galla attack again only to swing one leg up and snap it straight out. Galla ran into the sole of his boot and was knocked off his feet by his own momentum. Obviously he had not been counting on Envon being much of a threat without a weapon of some kid. The Tallest snatched him up by the neck with both hands and tossed him against the nearest wall hard enough to crack the stone.

Meanwhile Belthiad was beginning to come to his senses despite his multiple injuries given by Carrik. He spotted Zim and remembered that Shadow would pay top dollar to see that particular Irken dead...then again most of the Irken race would pay the same thing. He took out his gun and raised it, but when he fired Gaz was there and activated her shield to take the shot. Zim seemed to notice Belthiad and ran through multiple fights just to get to Gaz's side.

"Hey, not attacking the Gaz-Slave!" Zim obviously didn't know that Belthiad had intended that shot for him. "Prepare to feel the wrath of _Zim!_" With that he unfolded his PAK legs and opened fire with surprising accuracy that forced Belthiad to dodge or wind up with the embarrassing words 'Killed by Zim' on his grave stone.

"I've really had it up to here with Irken assassins, bounty hunters, soldiers and all that shit!" Gaz declared while activating her plasma blade. "Zim after this you're flying me right back home!"

Zim swallowed. "Y-yes Gaz-Human." She didn't acknowledge that he had dropped the 'slave' title.

Gaz rushed at Belthiad and tried to slice him in half at the waist; he dropped to the floor and rolled under the blade before punching Gaz in the face with a right hook. The attack didn't even make her flinch; instead it made her growl and chased after Belthiad as he rushed towards the Containment Tank. He leaped to the fifth step and barely avoided getting his legs cut off. Gaz was after him with Zim close behind.

However when they reached the top Belthiad pretended to trip and then rolled like a log, letting Gaz sink her arm mounted plasma blade into the stone. Then he fired his gun point blank range into the gauntlet and shattered it! Though Gaz was mostly unharmed saved for a minor burn her weapon was now demolished. She stood up and cracked her knuckles. "Alright then, back to the old school style."

Rine was fighting the male Planet Jacker with the sword again and was backed up once more by Drosco. The three fighters exchanged blows that they barely managed to intercept from one another. Slowly the swordsman was forcing them back with powerful and swift attacks that threatened to decapitate or dismember them. Then Drosco bumped into another fighter and spun while blocking the sword with one knife. He swung the other at his new opponent only for a powerful hand to grab his wrist.

Lok swung at Tallest Shadow once and cut him across the chest, making him stumble back. Then he looked to the one who had tried to stab him and gasped as a pair of orange eyes stared up at him. The black arrow tattoos identified the Irken as an old face from his past, "Drosco?"

"L-Lok?" Drosco stared at the Irken, who was now the same height as him rather than shorter like when they first met. Rine kicked the Planet Jacker away, not noticing the two as he continued his fight.

"But how did you...?" Lok trailed off as Drosco broke free of his grip and shoved past him, slashing both knives at Shadow as he came in for another attack. Lok took after the Sheyi Master and continued to fight Shadow with help from Drosco...

And oddly Shadow was avoiding hitting him, only focusing on Lok. He had perhaps two or three chances to attack Drosco in the first minute of battle yet he ignored him despite taking several minor wounds from the knives. He was also surprised by the presence of the Sheyi, but exchanged no words with him.

Volt, who was frightened half to death by all of the sudden violence occurring around him tried to flee over to where Tenn and The Monarch were keeping Inquisitors away from Paneece, The Caterpillar, De Rien and Kronos. One Inquisitor turned and noticed him. Volt swallowed as he saw the evil grin on the Shadow Irken's face and reached into his coat.

When the Inquisitor lunged he took a vial of clear fluid to the face...a fluid that began to burn his skin and eyes. He wailed and collapsed, letting Volt hop over him and rush between the two female Irkens. They both glared at him before he said. "I-I'm not with Shadow, I swear!"

Tenn opened her mouth to reply, but Volt pointed behind her and then activated one of his own PAK legs. "Look out!"

He stuck it past her...right into a charging Inquisitor's head. Tenn stared as the Inquisitor fell, definitely dead. It seemed head injuries affected the Inquisitors more-luckily enough otherwise Tenn would be dead now. She smiled and nodded to Volt. "Alright you can stay, and thanks!"

Volt sighed in relief, just glad to the safe for the moment.

With the whole room in the midst of a chaotic battle he wasn't sure if he would be safe anywhere else.

Xxx

End of Chapter

List of Villains (Since I have all the heroes memorized) and who they are fighting

**Shadow- Evil Tallest/ Lok and Drosco**

**Belthiad- Bounty Hunter/Zim and Gaz**

**Alternate Rik (Alt-Rik)- Evil Rikalo from another universe with powers./ Rikalo 'Rik' (the Good Rik)**

**White- Chronokinetic (time controlling) mercenary**

**Frequency- Blue furred 'wave riding' mercenary/surfer**

**Nick- Senior Communications Officer/Double Agent for Shadow**

**Ten'va (Female Planet Jacker)- Mercenary, uses spears as weapons**

**Tal'vo (Male Planet Jacker)- Mercenary, uses a sword for a weapon/ Rine**

**Galla- Inquisitor for Shadow/ Envon**


	31. Apocalypse Arc, Battle Royale P2

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

**IMPORTANT**

I have a challenge for the readers just to keep them busy since I might be slower in adding chapter for the next week due to the tests I'll be studying for. I _triple dog DARE_ you to make an inspirational opening sequence about this story. By that I mean like...you know how every TV show episode or movie has that opening at the start? Think of something like that. The winner will receive a free written entry...

I know, not a big fancy prize, but I'm not giving out money. This is just something to do for fun.

The winner will be decided based on my personal opinion only, though others can offer their own to affect my decision. Now just for the record: This is my pathetic way of stalling for time in case I can't publish chapters as fast. For you its just fun.

**Tak, Janie, BlackJack**

**Paneece, The Caterpillar, Rik Fragment, De Rien, Kronos**

**Grim, Skoodge, Skullene**

Xxx

_**Hello there, I'm back. Yes, I am really alive...as alive as a disembodied narrator can be from your point of view that is. This story is coming to a close and the next one would be eager to start were it sentient. A lot of things will be answered but let me list what you want to watch for:**_

_**The connection between Shadow, Lok and Drosco**_

_**The mystery of Miyuki's return**_

_**And the history of the Temple of the Cornerstone of Light**_

_**Keep an eye out for those things in the coming chapters...sadly you won't learn how Rik fits into all of this yet; or the truth about the Visitor in the Dark. That would be telling. Read on and be satisfied.**_

Xxx

"So you came here with just one ship, and no other way to get off of this planet," BlackJack glared at Tak as the three women crossed the flat terrain under the burning desert, "Florping smart of you,_ Captain_."

"Well I hadn't anticipated Shadow sending a giant freak of nature to use my ship as a chew toy and then chase after me." Tak snapped. "So quit your complaining, you'll only waste more energy."

"Oh but of course you're fine," Janie said bitterly. "You've got a _solar_ charged PAK to keep you going and the two of us to keep you company for the next two or three weeks before our PAKs die out completely."

"I have some portable chargers in case my Solar Collector breaks," Tak admitted. "So I'll have you around for maybe a year or two before I have to recharge those from my PAK. You'll be around for a nice long time if we're stranded."

"Oh lovely, I can just imagine the joy and laughter we will share," BlackJack crossed her arms and looked away.

"Shadow will have a ship in his hideout," Tak said. "As soon as I can figure out how to breach the upper entrance we'll be set."

"You haven't already?"

"I had to leave using a short range teleporter and I was chased all over this desert by a monster," Tak reminded her. "Besides if you are right and Tallest Blue is here then his precious empire of defectives and renegades will be coming to save their master."

"You're one to talk about being defective, Captain," Janie said. "Your history is available for public download like that of any of the Crimson Empire's precious 'war heroes'. I know about your little 'deviation' from your old post on Dirt."

"She used to work on Dirt?" BlackJack snickered. "Oh dear god I've got to get the details on that little step of her life."

"I rue the day Red decided to authorize the creation of a damned biography about me!" Tak hissed.

"Oh but the people just have to know how their greatest heroes crawled their way through all the muck and garbage to get where they are," Janie teased. "Tell us of your ever so brave mission that made you leave Dirt."

"How about I tell a class of recruits the story of how I _butchered_ two annoying defective _bitches?_" Tak shouted as she rounded on them both and extended her PAK legs menacingly. At the same time Janie and BlackJack unholstered their side arms and aimed at Tak. For several moments they all stood their in a standoff, ready to kill...

When BlackJack noticed something rather odd: a series of blue dots of light on Janie and Tak...

Scratch that, there were a few on her also. One was on her stomach and the other on her gun arm. Shapes rose out of the sand around them, holding rifles the blue light originated from...Laser Aiming Modules. The soldiers wore full body armour that matched the colours of the desert and were mostly taller than the average Irken...seeing as they were all at least a head or so higher than the Irkens they had surrounded.

"_Drop your weapons,_" One of them commanded, clearly a male judging by the sound of his voice and his build-again similar to an Irken male except taller and thicker in terms of muscle.

The Irken trio did so, seeing that they were outnumbered at least two to one and not willing to see if their guns could pierce the newcomers' armour fast enough before the soldiers mowed them down. The leader lowered his deadly looking rifle and raised his wrist to the mouth piece of his helmet. "_Landing Team A, we've located three more._"

BlackJack heard muffled chatter from the soldier's helmet. She took a moment to examine the squadron around them and saw that their armour had personal touches added. One had long narrow cartridges secured to the armour on their biceps and an H shaped visor. Another had black streaks on each side of their helmet and had thicker armour than the rest.

The leader took off his helmet, revealing...a human, like Gaz. He had dark red hair that was a total mess and streaked with sweat from wearing the confining helmet. Before they could get a good look at his face he reached up and placed something on his ears. A red holographic visor appeared over his eyes, hiding their real colour but giving the man an intimidating air about him. He looked down at the three Irkens.

"We're taking the Irkens back to the ship. Landing Team B found another pair of wanderers over in the valleys, one of them torn open. The Captain wants us off the ground in case whatever did him gets us." He looked to one of the soldiers. "Call down the gun ship and let's get out of here. Secure the prisoners."

"Who are you?" Tak demanded before one of the soldiers moved behind her while two more kept their guns locked on her. "What are you humans doing here?"

As the soldier cuffed her hands behind her, the red haired human put his helmet back on. "I, ma'am, am Sergeant Kurt Malcolm. And you are in the custody of the Frontier Infantry."

After he finished, a large shape descended from the clouds. It was a gun ship of sorts, rather bulky and slow but looked more than capable of taking a punishment. BlackJack and Janie found their hands cuffed behind them and were led onto the gun ship alongside Tak.

"M-more humans?" Janie swallowed, looking at BlackJack. "I thought Gaz was the only one to leave her home planet."

"I thought so too," BlackJack admitted. "Just stay calm..."

"Easier said than done," Janie whimpered as the soldiers piled in.

Xxx

The realm of Envy was the plaza that stood at the front of the Palace of Irk. The bones of the meals consumed by Gluttony were gone, replaced instead by statues that seemed to be perched at every possible spot. Roofs, the sides of the grand stairs leading to the palace entrance...one massive statue in the middle of the plaza itself. They were all made of gold and were sculptures of Rikalo...

The Fragment cleared his throat as they spread out. "Okay I will admit this: I was a teensy bit jealous. I mean Emperor of Irk, hot and adorin' wife...hard not to be a little _envious_ of you."

"Oh nice joke," Paneece glared at Rik, who grinned sheepishly.

"Can't help myself," He shrugged. "You'd do something to lighten the situation a bit in my position."

"I'm too busy trying to find this...Envy to make jokes," Paneece inhaled slowly.

"Just remember...everything else up until now has been light compared to Envy," Rik added, the smile vanishing from his face. "The guy's just as messed up as the...primary Rik is and can manipulate things in here like you wouldn't believe."

Xxx

Grim had lost all hope when he did not pick up Skullene's PAK beacon on his scanner. He had almost gone right back to square one, the same position he had been at when he had thought she had killed herself long ago. But then the beacon started up ever so slightly...and then it was operating normally. With frantic anticipation he and Skoodge ran as fast as they could through the maze to reach her.

They found themselves in the very hall where Envon's team had fought against the Irken Mutants and Frequency earlier. Then they crept down the passage Skullene had led the blue furred mercenary through. He heard a gentle humming from up ahead and activated the plasma blades of his now separated sickles. He exchanged a nod with Skoodge and charged out into the open...and came upon the sight of the monster resembling their mother holding his little sister. Skullene, looking scarred and bruised was being rocked back and forth in the arms of the creature.

Taking care to be silent, Grim waved to Skoodge to remain back and climbed down to Miyuki's level. Her long serpent body was coiled up around herself and Skullene. The ex-Invader was unconscious, as were Frequency and what looked like a white haired human-an albino if Grim was correct. Frequency was in the worst condition of them all; no doubt he had taken the brunt of Skullene's attacks before this creature had intervened. But...why wasn't it killing her?

Grim still registered a PAK beacon, meaning Skullene was alive. So what was this doppelganger doing?

"Her PAK was broken," Miyuki whispered, stroking Skullene's antennae back. "And the human, the one known as White used something to accelerate her Life Clock...she was crying for me." She looked at Grim, making him freeze in mid step. "I fixed her PAK...will she only hate me like you do?"

"...you attacked me first," Grim raised one sickle. "If you really are our maneeme then why were you trying to kill us?"

"It always pushes me," Miyuki sniffed. "It gets into your head and drags you around in chains. Every move I make is made with puppet strings, only the strings are chains." She faced Grim entirely and moved towards him slowly. "Grimrair...I remember now...what happened after the monster devoured me...the one made by Zim."

"The Infinite Energy Absorption Blob," Grim nodded. "Nothing could survive that thing."

Miyuki smiled. "Zim made one error. Though that monster was indeed the perfect weapon...it did not destroy what it consumed, it rather...stored it. Not in the sense of a box holding an object but more like a computer storing a file. I was trapped in there, an imprint of myself while my body was converted to make the monster stronger. But then...it came bearing these two gems," She let Grim see her hands while she balanced Skullene on her forearms. "One to free me from the monster...and another to make me into that thing you saw...the thing that used your memory of me against you."

"What are they?" Skoodge asked, having already climbed down and stood next to Grimrair with his rifle held in a standby pose rather than pointed at Miyuki. "And who gave them to you?"

"...the same one who gave birth to Tallest Shadow...the same one who has done so much harm," Miyuki held Skullene out to Grim. "Take her, please, before I lose myself again."

Grim dropped his sickles without even thinking and took Skullene into his arms. She let out a whine as she felt Miyuki release her. The former Tallest had somehow eased her into a nap using her diamond-like gem, being away from it disrupted her slumber. Her eyes fluttered a bit...

"Grim..."

Grim gently hushed her as Skoodge stared at Miyuki's hands.

"What are those stones in your hands?" He asked.

"...Life and Cruelty," Miyuki held up each hand as she named the stones. "...two of eight stones...Life was given to me once I was taken out of the monster...and Cruelty after I had healed. Life is silent, but Cruelty...she keeps whispering to me...she is sided with the Visitor. The Visitor...The Visitor in the Dark...it is like nothing I have ever seen before." She held her head in her hands. "It is a void, made of infinite space it yearns to fill...it gives Cruelty power..."

"Life...Cruelty...you're talking about these things like they're alive." Skoodge said as he looked at the red stone designated as 'Cruelty'. He reached out-

"_Don't touch it!_" Miyuki shrieked as she pulled her arm out of reach. "She'll burn you! She only knows hate and pain!"

The red stone pulsed, visibly growing momentarily and shrinking back to its real size. Miyuki whimpered, clutching her left hand. "She wants to take control again...Grimrair, dewo smeet, please kill me before she can!"

Grim looked between his sickles and Miyuki. Part of him kept denying that this thing could be his maneeme...the other part of him wanted to rip the stone known as 'Cruelty' out of her hand. He set Skullene down and grabbed one of his sickles. Miyuki bowed her head, showing her neck for him to slice through as he raised the sickle over his head.

"Please...just do it..." Miyuki begged.

Grim reared his arm back and swung down with a shout...

But Miyuki felt no pain. She opened her eyes and saw that he had flung his sickle through the air at Frequency, who had regained consciousness and was rising to his feet. The bounty hunter's yellow eyes widened. "Aw sh-"

TSSS!

Frequency let out a silent gasp and collapsed. Grim's sickle was buried deep into his torso. The kinetic field around the plasma blade kept it in place so it would not slip out of its victim. Grim snatched his other sickle up as White leaped to his feet-having had enough sense to pretend to be unconscious until the right time. The Irken threw his sickle at White this time, only for the albino human to raise one hand...and the sickle stopped in mid air. He moved three steps to his left and lowered his hand. The scythe continued on its original course at its original speed and buried itself into a wall behind White.

"The boss won't be happy about that," White shook his head as Grim savagely tore his first sickle out of Frequency. He collapsed to the ground and did not move nor make a sound. "But then again your sister had plenty of time to wear him down."

"Are you another of Shadow's?" Skoodge demanded.

"He is!" Miyuki, lying on her side whispered. "G-Grim...Skullene...dewo smeets..." She opened her eyes and slowly got up, an eerie smile on her face. "You've both behaved poorly..."

She held up both hands, flexing her claws as the stones glowed brightly. "It is time you were shown some _discipline!_"

Xxx

De Rien did not wake up under the sun, nor did she wake up in the temple where right now a massive battle was raging. She woke up on Irk...at the feet of a statue of an Irken. He wore a long coat and held a gun out, aimed at an invisible target. It was made of solid gold. Sitting up, she looked at something carved into the base of it...

"Rikalo...Champion...Greatest Irken in the Universe?" De was stunned by this. Rik hated having so much as a picture of himself-without her or the kids in it at least. Why would he let somebody make a statue like this?

The whole city around her was silent. She was not used to this, as Irk was always bustling with millions of Irkens even at night...so what had happened? And why would the Crimson Empire build tributes to her husband? They hated and condemned him for being defective alone; he was just the most infamous defective on their list.

"_Poor girl,"_

De squeaked and pressed her back against the leg of the statue. She looked around frantically for the speaker.

"_I know why the other Rik is so happy...with a woman like you to warm him at night...to give him love..."_ The speaker hissed. "_Makes me wonder why he had to get everything. The girl, the loyal friends...it makes me want to just rip him apart._"

Slowly the voice, which was neither male nor female at first cleared. It was male and...

"Rik?" De watched as her husband, dressed in a long white robe stepped out from behind another statue. He glared at her venomously, making her recoil. "Wait...no, you're not my husband!"

"How'd you guess?" He growled. "Was it the fact that I'm not throwing myself at you apologizing and bawling like a little bitch? Does it upset you to know that there's _somebody_ in the galaxy who doesn't give two shits about you?"

De Rien stood her ground. "I knew because Rik wouldn't be caught dead in something like that."

"Aw gee, she remembers an ever so useless detail that somehow becomes relevant," Rik shrugged. "Doesn't matter what you know, princess. You're in my world now, compliments of the real me."

"Rik would never send me to such a miserable place with just you as company!" De pointed at him, looking furious and sounding absolutely _pissed._

"I never said 'your' Rik...I said the 'real' _me,_" Rik grinned. "Don't think too hard on it."

"And don't scream too loud from _this!_"

Suddenly the white robed Rik was struck in the back by a flash of light and launched past De. He struck one of the legs of the statue behind her head on and broke right through it. As he continued on through the wall behind it De looked up. Her jaw dropped as the statue slowly began to tilt down towards her...

Only for a monocle wearing, white robed Irken with a ridiculously long body to snatch her out of the way at the last second. De yelped as she was tugged off her feet and tucked under one arm by the Irken, who slithered an unknown distance and set her down gently. "Are you alright, madam?"

"What are you?" De demanded, taking a defensive stance and backing away from the Irken. "Where am I?"

"Calm down," Rik-or a Rik who dressed like he was actually her husband said as he stepped up to the long bodied Irken's side, accompanied by...

"Paneece!"

"De Rien?" Paneece stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to rescue you!" De Rien said. "Heck your brother called in everybody he could to come and help you!"

"Uh...sorry to say you're kind of in just as bad a situation as these two are," The Fragment of Rik admitted. "Just to set the record straight: I ain't Rik either, at least not your husband. I'm...kinda what this Rik used to be."

"...somebody tell me...what the hell...is going on...NOW." De was not a violent person by nature, but when under enough pressure and given the proper amount of frustration she could be _extremely_ intimidating.

"De, please, we don't have time!" Paneece pleaded, trying to calm De down. "That thing you saw...we have to kill it so we can get out of here! There's so much that my brother has to be told about. This...this other Rik, he isn't of our world."

"And no doubt he will be after your husband," The Fragment added. "If I had to guess he put you here so you would die like us." He smirked. "Good thing we didn't die though."

The being known as Envy suddenly smashed through the rubble that had buried him. He growled. "Finally, you all show yourselves..." He locked onto The Caterpillar and grinned. "I'm especially glad to see _you _again."

"De, meet the ever charming Envy," The Fragment of Rik said.

"So that's why he's such an insensitive creep," De Rien swallowed, looking to the others as they formed weapons. "How did you-"

"This is a dream," The Caterpillar explained. "You can control this reality, but you must focus to do so." As Envy spread his arms the emperor of the HEI tensed. "And I sincerely hope that you are a quick learner."

"Four, five, nothing's changed." Envy said. "You're all still dead!"

With that, the Irken's flesh began to shift and bloat. His torso distended, and his flesh and clothes ripped open. A mass of tentacles and long reaching claws burst out as Envy roared. Within seconds what had once been an ordinary sized Irken was now a monstrosity over fifty feet high. Its flesh was green and leaked a fluid that hissed and steamed upon touching the ground; multiple red Irken eyes glared at the group and a single vertical slit opened up to reveal a mouth that had many rows of teeth surrounding a lashing forked tongue.

"...this definitely isn't going to be as easy as the last three," Paneece said.

"One was dead another was asleep and the last was just horny," The Fragment of Rik pointed out.

"Exactly,"

De Rien took an involuntary step back as she stared up at Envy. The monster raised one massive limb and began to stomp towards the group. She could hardly believe that this...thing ever resembled her husband at all! How could they fight something this big?

Her head was spinning. This was all happening far too fast! She was stuck in some sort of dream world? There were evil versions of her husband in it? There was a good version? There was another Rik in the real world? Had he been the one to knock her out?

She trembled as the monster got closer.

"Take him!" The Fragment shouted, raising both guns and firing...

In the exact same style Rik used. De Rien was really beginning to hate déjà vu.

Xxx

End of chapter

This was made early in the morning, please forgive any crappy parts. I made this in a rush to make up for not making a chapter yesterday. DX


	32. Apocalypse Arc, Game Changer

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

**Rikalo 'Rik' (With Carlos)**

**Lok, Drosco**

Xxx

The wall crumbled when Rik dove to the right. He had dodged a projectile launched by Alt-Rik, who had unholstered a short but thick weapon and had loaded a canister the size of his fist into the barrel. It was similar in concept to a sabot projectile; the canister being incinerated in the barrel when an explosive tipped shell was launched. Alt-Rik was reaching for another shell now.

Rik reacted quickly by pulling his gun out and firing off a shot. But by the time he had aimed Alt-Rik had already moved. The 'good' Rikalo couldn't track his alternate's move; it was like the alternate knew when he would fire and when he had a lock on him. Finally Alt-Rik stopped right in front of him with a smug grin and his hands on his hips. Rik fired...only to find that his gun had overheated.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you don't pay-" Alt-Rik's right foot swung up and collided with the side of Rik's face. "Attention!"

The blow knocked Rik over. He pushed himself back up only to meet Alt-Rik's fist directly between his eyes and landed on his back. Alt-Rik was now alternating between punching Rik as he got up and kicking him while he was down. But finally Rik caught his leg as he swung at his vulnerable ribs and forced it up; Alt-Rik was thrown off balance as a result and left open to Rik's attack. He pushed off the ground with his right foot in a lunge and struck Alt-Rik in the face with a left fist.

This was known on Earth as a 'Superman Punch.'

Alt-Rik fell in a heap, and Rik used the momentum of his lunge to continue over his alternate self and roll as he landed. "So how did Shadow pull this off? Did he clone me? Are you some robot or something?"

"No and no," Alt-Rik chuckled, rising to his feet casually as though he was not enduring any pain at all. "I'm just as real as you, Rikky!" He twisted clockwise, and Rik charged to intercept whatever attack he had planned. He jabbed at Alt-Rik's head, going over the right arm he raised in defence. But Alt-Rik's left arm shot up from behind the other, shielded from view until he had twisted at the waist so that arm moved faster. Then his right arm adjusted its position and Rik ran right into the elbow, which slammed into the area just below his neck.

He sucked in a breath as a growing soreness shot up from that region and brought both arms up as Alt-Rik tried to grab him by the antennae. He jammed the heel of each hand into the sides of Alt-Rik's skull just above the cheek bones and behind the eyes. Alt-Rik was dazed by this attack and released Rik. The former then swung a vicious overhand blow, pushing his body weight into it and knocking Alt-Rik down again.

"So then what the hell kinda freak are you?" Rik demanded, gasping lightly. "And what did you do to De and Kronos?"

"The psychic freak is fine," Alt-Rik spat some blood out as he got up. "But your wife...is right in here." He tapped his head, "Along with the worm and his whore. If you kill me, they die too."

"So you know you're losing then, glad we're up to date on that," Rik said stonily, ready for another round. "But now you're telling me that you've got my wife stuffed in your head. The hell are you, a psychic?"

"He got it! No wonder they say you're so accurate: you got it right on the bull's eye," Alt-Rik snapped his fingers with the words 'bull's eye'. "Unfortunately...I'm even _better!_"

He flexed his hand, and suddenly his skin simply turned pitch black. There was no material, no paint, it had changed colour and now had lines of red light running along the veins. Then something sprouted from his palm: a long thin blade of black metal with the same red veins. Its hilt was surrounded by an array of swirling and curving beams. The weapon was known on Earth as a Rapier with an Italian styled swept hilt, something Alt-Rik had picked up during his years on the human home world before he destroyed it.

Alt-Rik flicked it once, holding it in his right hand and moving it in the same direction. Rik barely managed to leap back in time to avoid it. "This weapon is made more for stabbing, but it can be used to cut easily enough in the right hands."

"Looks more like a metal twig than a sword," Rik replied.

"I heard Irkens here prefer curved or heavy swords if they ever use them at all," Alt-Rik shrugged. "Oh well, so sad, too bad."

Then he lunged forward expertly, the rapier digging an inch deep into Rik even when he dodged as fast as possible. Rik grunted as Alt-Rik pulled the blade back, and then angled his head forward and bent down a bit so it was flicked over his head rather than through his neck when Alt-Rik tried to finish him off. Then he side stepped another jab, but his left side was torn up still. Alt-Rik licked the blood off of his blade as he stared smugly at Rik. "I'd brag, but that usually just brings bad luck."

Then the dance began again; Alt-Rik would flick, jab, and swing the rapier while Rik would just barely avoid a crippling or fatal wound. He tried to use one of his knives or a machete to defend, but the rapier sliced through them as though they were made of tissue paper...

They may as well have been for all the good they did.

Alt-Rik's mouth had split into some sort of distended grin that should have split his cheeks open. He brought the rapier up to shoulder level and sneered. "There's only room for one Rikalo here!" He jammed the blade forward...

**CLANG!**

Rik was holding one arm up...entirely covered in black scales. When Alt-Rik looked into his eyes he saw that his right eye-on the same side as the scaled arm had an orange pupil in its center. The left eye and arm were normal. Rik was still in control, but Carlos was feeding him power to ensure his survival. With a snarl Rik grabbed the blade of the rapier and snapped it in his hand like it was just a twig.

"More Chaos Energy..." Alt-Rik slid out of the way of Rik's clawed hand. "So that ignorant anarchist you absorbed is actually making an effort to help! Big surprise!"

"Oh I'm not helping him..." Rik said as his voice changed. His other eye and arm also changed, but it went further. His muscles bulged under the skin; red veins flowed across his skin like somebody had painted over the area where ever single blood vein was located. And a pair of wings appeared...not solid wings, but the images of bat like wings.

"I'm helping myself!" Carlos, the Spirit of Chaos laughed harshly. "I haven't had fun ever since this temple was sealed!" He crossed his arms, eager yet calm eyes staring at Alt-Rik.

"For good reasons I would assume," Alt-Rik frowned, forming another rapier. "And your stone was never taken; the Keeper could never persuade somebody to take it willingly so he tricked this fool into accepting you."

"Oh no...That is where you're wrong. He told Rik that he would need me to leave this temple alive and that is the truth!" Carlos spread his arms out sideways. "Chaos never lies, Irken! It is what it is and it never hides behind something to look pretty! Chaos is free will, to be unique from the norm, to stand where others crawl. It changes everything by flipping the universe head over heels and watching the fireworks that are the result!"

"Well at least you're passionate," Alt-Rik slid into a stance.

"So are you...I'd know," Carlos pointed at him. "You're carrying something that belongs to my family."

Alt-Rik actually stopped as he began his attack. He was genuinely confused by this exclamation. "...what did you say?"

"I said that you are carrying something left in you by a member of my lovely family," Carlos cooed, walking towards him. "Yes...I see it..." He gestured with one hand and tendrils of black began to rise from Alt-Rik. He felt nothing physically...but he could feel something tugging on his very essence.

"Aw yes...there we go." Carlos gently stroked one of them. "Which are you then...death? No...You don't burn me with your touch. Not cruelty...not order...so what are you then?"

"What the hell are these things?" Alt-Rik demanded.

"The source of that handy power you like to use," Carlos replied before flicking one wrist. He sliced through one of the tendrils. Alt-Rik screamed as pain shot through him, knocking him to his knees and making him drop his sword.

"W-w-what have you done to me?"

"This thing in here is limited, cut off from its body for so long," Carlos said as he reached down and grabbed one tentacle sticking out of Alt-Rik's left shoulder. "I'd like to know who would divide themselves and lower themselves to giving that piece to you at the same time!"

He pulled, but Alt-Rik jammed his rapier through his stomach and twisted it. Carlos grunted and released him. Alt-Rik leaped away, the black tentacles sinking back down into him and vanishing while Carlos tore the rapier out of his Irken body.

"You know...I hate cheap shots, yet at the same time I can't help but love them." The Spirit of Chaos sighed. "They disobey and cheat, causing chaos in an orderly fight..."

THUD! Alt-Rik was suddenly punched in the face so hard that he flew backwards and broke another hole in the wall. Carlos chased him through it, moving at the same speed he had used to catch the Irken off guard. "But I wrote the handbook on cheating!"

Alt-Rik rolled backwards and managed to leap to his feet after he landed in a corridor outside of the containment chamber where the Meekroobian/Irken Hybrid was located. He pivoted, twisted, ducked and leaped to avoid a barrage from Carlos. The Chaos Spirit was not letting up, and he was not running out of energy either. Alt-Rik backpedalled and barely avoided disembowelment. Then he side stepped Carlos swinging one fist down-it would have crushed his head and sent his brain squirting out like a balloon if it had hit.

Alt-Rik then leaped into the air, back flipping onto a large piece of rubble left over from his explosive rounds used earlier. Carlos bounded over the stone easily, almost dancing and enjoying himself as he swiped his claws upwards. Alt-Rik launched himself back again and then lunged forward when he landed on the ground. His knee met with Carlos' face, but it only staggered him for a moment.

"So how'd you get this guy's wife into your mind, much less to stay there, huh?" He asked while stretching a bit as Alt-Rik took this brief chance to catch his breath. "Even a psychic like you would need an amplifier to do that and fight at the same time...that was how you knew it would happen. You kill Rikalo out here, and kill the holy guy and his girlfriend in your mind. So how did you do it?"

"You're awful smart for Chaos."

"Hey, part of being Chaos is controlling it; I can afford to look before I leap from time to time." Carlos shrugged. "That tank was giving out massive amounts of psionic waves. I could feel it ever since I stepped into that room." When he saw Alt-Rik's eyes narrow he had all the answers he needed. "Perfect...problem being that you didn't expect more psychics to be here...or at least you never thought they'd be awake or alive to use that tank's power for themselves."

"You need more power? Ever hear of overkill?"

"Oh not for me...I'm just fine." Carlos shrugged. "However Rikalo...he'll need a lot of juice to get into that thick skull of yours."

He shot forward, and Alt-Rik barely dodged his claws...

But Carlos successfully slammed his head into his own. During that single moment when they were together Carlos opened his mouth...and shot a red vapour into Alt-Rik's mouth. They broke apart, staggering slightly. Alt-Rik snarled. "You...what have you _done?_"

He grabbed Carlos by the arm and swung him up overhead. He landed head first and would have snapped his neck if not for his durability and regeneration. Alt-Rik went to hit him while he was down, but Carlos jammed both feet into his chest and knocked him back. The Chaos Spirit flipped onto his feet and grinned. "I just sent Rikky on a little trip is all!"

His eyes gleamed maliciously, "And scored myself a body of my own."

Xxx

Shadow was forced on the defensive against Lok and Drosco. They worked in perfect harmony with one another. When Lok clashed with Shadow Drosco would swoop in and slice at exposed parts to leave small wounds. Slowly these began to build up, Drosco landing hits faster than Shadow could regenerate. Finally the Tallest grabbed Lok's sword hand and Drosco's outstretched arm-which had been going for his stomach. He twisted and swung them both over his head.

They landed next to one another in prone positions and quickly scrambled up. Shadow was closing in, a curved sword that his empire had designed and favoured in hand. It was short, halfway between a dagger and a short sword but strongly made. It could go up against a katana and slice clean through it easily. He swiped upwards with it, aiming for Drosco's throat.

Lok swung his own blade so that it would intercept Shadow and decapitate him before he got close-

_Thoom!_

And suddenly he was gone. Both Irkens looked around, keeping back to back.

"Drosco," Lok whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to rescue Paneece and the Caterpillar."

"Caterpillar?"

"The Irken in the white robe, he's an ally of Envon," Drosco explained, not lowering his guard. "Why are you here?" He wanted to ask 'why_ haven't_ you been there for so long?' but those kinds of topics could wait until after the fight.

"I was tracking Shadow and instead I found one of his pets attacking Zim and Envon's agents," Lok replied. "Then another one teleported us here just before you walked in. It really accelerated my timetable."

"...why did you leave?"

Before Lok could answer Shadow reappeared and swung down. Lok shoved Drosco aside and slid out from under the blade. It missed his antennae by inches and dug into the floor. Shadow jerked it free and swung at Lok's waist just as he got up. He braced his arm blade against the attack and extended his other arm blade from its gauntlet. He twisted counter clockwise and swung the left handed blade at Shadow's stomach while keeping the right one between himself and the sword.

Shadow was gone again, and reappeared in the same spot a moment later. Lok swung one arm up and batted aside the downwards stroke of Shadow's sword before jamming his other blade up to stab under the Tallest's ribs. Shadow caught his arm and held the blade inches from his flesh. Lok kept a grip on his sword arm, the blade threatening to bury itself into his left eye.

Drosco moved in with his knives, jabbing into Shadow's back. Shadow growled and twisted, slamming Lok into Drosco. The Sheyi Master caught Lok, wrapping his arms around the armoured Irken and stumbling back. Somehow he stayed on his feet and steadied Lok. "He's tough."

"Tell me about it!" Lok nodded.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Are you wearing anything under that skirt?"

"Is this really the time?"

"Answer it!"

"Yes I am."

"Good, give 'em to me!" Lok said before they broke apart. As Lok distracted Shadow Drosco took off his long wrap skirt, leaving him in the full body suit underneath it and his sleeveless shirt. He passed the skirt to Lok after he landed a side kick to Shadow's solar plexus that knocked him off balance for a moment. Lok took the garment and twisted it into a makeshift rope before he caught Shadow's sword arm in it as the Tallest swung again.

Shadow wrenched his arm back and forth to try and get free, but Lok had wrapped the fabric tightly around his arm several times in the span of a second and was heaving on it to move it further and further until Shadow's fist struck a wall. It broke a hole through the stone, but it also made him drop the sword. Satisfied, Lok pulled shadow's arm forward and made him lean down. Then he swung a knee up into Shadow's chin while jumping up and knocked Shadow away.

"Thanks!" He handed the crumpled skirt back to Drosco, who put it back on around his waist.

Lok stopped by Shadow, who was recovering from the assault moments ago. Lok was considering just running him through, but reconsidered it. If everybody else knew what he knew they would understand why he couldn't kill Shadow...

And why he was so eagerly willing to kill Lok in return.

**SCHLUCK!**

Lok gasped, the force of Shadow's attack knocking him back a step. He looked down at the hole torn through his stomach by Shadow's claws during his moment of hesitation. The black clad Tallest stood up as a steady flow of blood poured from the wound, staining Lok's clothes and pooling at his feet as he stumbled back.

"L-LOK!" Drosco barely took a step towards him before Shadow had him by the throat and held him up.

"Take a close look at your old lover," Shadow hissed. "Watch carefully and wait until _after_ he dies."

He threw Drosco aside and turned his attention towards Lok. The Irken feebly brought up one arm blade in defence, and Shadow grabbed his forearm and pulled hard on it. First muscles and veins snapped, and then the Humerus popped out of its socket. Lok's mouth was open in a mute scream as more blood trickled from his mouth.

"No..." Drosco whispered, beginning to rise to his feet and grab for another of his blades.

But it was too late. Shadow uncurled all of the fingers and the thumb of his right hand. They all elongated and curved into claws as sharp as any sword. He looked at Drosco and gave him but a wink before he swung in a backhanded motion and both cut through Lok's throat and tore off his lower jaw.

A wail escaped Drosco as he watched the purple eyed Irken, his spinal cord now exposed to open air fall to his knees. His tongue hung by a few strands now-wait no, it fell and plopped on the stone floor. Lok then collapsed on his side just as Drosco tackled Shadow in a fury. He shrieked obscenities as he tore at Shadow with his bare hands. Tears were pouring down Drosco's face as he jammed both of his thumbs into Shadow's eyes...

But the Tallest did not even flinch. He stood there and took the punishment even as fluid poured from his now squashed eyes. Then he grasped Drosco's quivering hands and forced them back. As his thumbs exited the eye sockets of Shadow's skull the Sheyi beheld the eyes sealing back up, the fluid pouring back up into the breach before it vanish. It was like somebody had hit the rewind button. Now Shadow looked perfectly healthy and unharmed.

"You should know by now it takes more than that to kill us," Shadow leaned forward. "_Gorgeous._"

Drosco stiffened. "No...No it-that's not-" He looked to Lok's corpse before Shadow forced him to look him in the eye. None of the others even saw them since Shadow had used his power to dim the light in that one corner of the room so nobody saw him kissing Drosco. Shadow held the Sheyi Master tenderly, but the orange eyed Irken did not even try to escape.

Shadow broke the kiss. "...convinced now?"

"...but how?" Drosco asked, trying to deny what he thought to be true.

"Watch and see," Shadow said, turning him towards the body of Lok...which was slowly melting into a black liquid. Even the arm was gone now...and both puddles were flowing to Shadow's feet. "I 'separated' part of myself from my main body early into my reign, actually right after I became Tallest. I needed to think clearly and this part of my old self didn't help. It developed a mind and personality of its own further on and came to think of itself as Lok Hunter."

The True Lok Hunter, now Tallest Shadow looked down at Drosco affectionately. "But he is not important now Drosco...my love..." He kissed him again. "I've waited so long to have you back."

Drosco stared at his old lover in despair as he turned away.

"Stay here...and I will clean up this mess," Shadow's hands became claws again, and he stepped away as light returned to that part of the room. Drosco was on his knees, and Lok was entirely gone. Only the gauntlets containing his arm blades remained.

Drosco picked one up and held it to his chest, bawling as Shadow chose his next target and struck.

Xxx

List of Villains (Since I have all the heroes memorized) and who they are fighting

**Shadow- Evil Tallest/ Lok and Drosco**

**Belthiad- Bounty Hunter/Zim and Gaz**

**Alternate Rik (Alt-Rik) - Evil Rikalo from another universe with powers. / Rikalo 'Rik' (the Good Rik)**

**White- Chronokinetic (time controlling) mercenary**

**Frequency- Blue furred 'wave riding' mercenary and surfer (DOWN)**

**Nick- Senior Communications Officer and Double Agent for Shadow**

**Ten'va (Female Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses spears as weapons**

**Tal'vo (Male Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses a sword for a weapon/ Rine**

**Galla- Inquisitor for Shadow/ Envon**


	33. Apocalypse Arc, Perfectly Chaotic Scheme

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

Also, to separate individual fights I will put an (oXo) between each fight. The triple X line (Xxx) is for different scenes and locations or points of view.

THIS WILL BE A LONG CHAPTER

**De Rien, The Caterpillar, Paneece, Rik Fragment, Rikalo and introducing...Gary**

**Envon, Rine, Drosco, The Monarch, Kronos, Volt**

Xxx

_**I will only say this...you remember that watcher at the end of chapter twenty three? Damnation, An Unwelcome Visitor? Well...he still hasn't appeared yet, but he shall...and you will know just how dangerous he really is from what you have already seen of him outside of this adventure.**_

Xxx

Shadow had chosen to target the bodies of Paneece, De Rien, and The Caterpillar first. He shot across the room, shoving aside both friend and foe until he was in reach of the two standing guard over his targets. The Monarch saw him coming and shouted a warning to Tenn just before he came into range. Tenn brought her two right PAK legs up and swung them to the left. Shadow bent down and twisted.

He ended up flipping into the air, rolling like a log between the two PAK legs and landing on one foot, then the other. It was almost like a dance the way he did it with such grace and coordination. Then again everything that the corrupted Lok Hunter did seemed perfect, unlike his old self who would tumble or face plant. He brought his right leg up while twisting counter clockwise and snapped it out straight, flexing his abdominal muscles and slamming the heel of that foot into Tenn's head.

The blow sent her flying back with a cry of pain. The Monarch now was the only thing that stood between Tallest Shadow and the unconscious victims-and Volt. She slid into a defensive stance and awaited his attack, but just as he stepped forward to initiate the fight The Monarch heard a shout.

"Stay away from my _maneeme!_" Suddenly a very awake and seriously furious Kronos charged past her leaped up while twisting clockwise. As he jumped he bent both knees and teleported several feet ahead. When he reappeared he snapped both legs out, executing a flying kick that hit Shadow in the chest. Kronos bent his knees and landed between Shadow and The Monarch-who did indeed resemble his mother Tak.

"M-maneeme?" The Monarch was unfamiliar with this Irken/Human hybrid. How did one even exist here? He was not from the HEI, as careful genetic alteration had ensured that Irken Smeets born would be 99 percent Irken by the time they were born and have no human characteristics whatsoever. But here was one with human eyes and black hair. He couldn't have been more than a few decades old too.

What had the Tak of this universe been up to?

"I understand your wish to protect your family," Shadow said. "So I will not lower myself to cowardly attacking your mother...until you are dead."

Kronos grabbed a weapon from a dead Inquisitor by The Monarch's feet and held up the short curved Shadow Irken Blade. "Wait here Maneeme." He then launched himself towards Shadow, who grabbed a discarded blade for himself and met him head on.

Kronos was more aggressive, constantly on the move and never swung from the same position more than once. He would dart to and fro, teleporting in an effort to catch Shadow off guard. But the Tallest was seemingly predicting each destination he had in mind when teleporting and would be ready for his attack. Luckily Shadow was forced to take a more defence oriented and stable stance that involved him not changing position as much.

The Hybrid seemed to have the advantage for the first minute or two of combat. But then Shadow was forced to relocate closer to the tank containing a certain Irken/Meekroobian Hybrid...and noticed the cracks in it getting larger. Alt-Rik was by his side moments later, one hand on his head. "That Chaos Freak, he-he's done something! The hybrid's waking up and my hold on the prisoners is weakening!"

"Hm...Then it seems we've lost this one," Shadow muttered, looking towards Drosco.

He should have stayed near Drosco, perhaps take him away...but now Drosco was advancing on him with the arm blades of the clone he had absorbed minutes ago. In fact most of Shadow's allies were being pushed back one by one. Belthiad, Galla, Tal'vo, Ten'va, and Nick were the only ones left fighting alongside Shadow and Alt-Rik.

oXo

Volt, after seeing Tenn get knocked out joined the fight in a desperate frenzy. His target became Nick, who had run out of bullets for all of his guns and was using his fists now to fight with Envon-tag teaming the blue Tallest alongside Galla. Volt slammed into him, pulling out a vial from under his lab coat and hitting the taller Irken on the side of the head with it. It was ordinary water Volt had been keeping to research later for a more lasting defence against the deadly liquid; it worked perfectly. Nick screamed as his skin steamed and began to burn.

"Yeah! Take tha-" Volt was punched in the face by Nick and sent sliding across the floor. It had been a blind hit that only landed thanks to Volt's celebration.

Nick opened his eyes again and glared at Volt. "That was a cheap shot."

Volt swallowed, his skin turning a few shades paler. Nick advanced on him. "I hate to be the bad guy, but when it comes down to my family and anybody else, my family takes priority."

"So you decide to work for Shadow to keep them safe?" Volt demanded while leaping to his feet and meeting Nick's hard stare. "He's a monster!"

"He's a ruler like any other," Nick replied. "Rulers do things to expand. Red blew up whole words for fun; Shadow kills leaders and conquers the people. If I have to choose, I'll take the lesser evil."

"Lesser-why didn't you join with Tallest Blue then?"

"Because he'll never trust me, and I don't trust him!" Nick snapped. "He and I go way back, we were in the academy at the same time and he knew me from all of his visits to the Massive. I was the Head Communications Officer for Red and Purple when they ruled together. I did my job, did it very well actually, and I was becoming fast friends with Red and Purple. They were beginning to change, becoming better, nicer...before Tallest _Envon _happened. He murdered Purple and sent Red spiralling into insanity. Things got worse and the whole galaxy is in chaos because of him! All because he thought his sister was dead!"

Volt was shaken by Nick's fury. The usually calm and kind officer was shaking from head to toe with barely restrained rage. If he had a gun he might have shot at Volt. Instead he balled his hands into fists again. "So excuse me if I think that Shadow is my best option to go with to keep my family alive and safe!"

"...You joined Shadow...perhaps the most messed up and twisted Irken in the galaxy...because you didn't think Envon would trust you...and because you blame him for killing a dictator..." Volt said in a deadpanned tone.

...

All four of Volt's PAK legs shot out at once and nearly skewered Nick, who deployed his own and batted them aside. Volt came at him, yellow eyes beneath his goggles ablaze with a focused rage.

"That's not a damn _excuse!_" The Chemist shouted, slamming into Nick again and trying to dig his PAK legs into anywhere he could while clawing at him. He felt Nick's hands close around his throat and grabbed one of his antennae. He bent the extremity and tugged it back and forth viciously, drawing pained grunts from his green eyed opponent.

They were now more brawling than really fighting. They rolled around, kicking and punching at whatever they could. Even though Nick was obviously the better fighter he had to contend with Volt's righteous fury. The scientist, while meek had seen his friends hurt and nearly killed along with some apparent compatriots who had helped him...and it drove him up the walls that he was not able to do anything to help. He had enough of being helpless for one life time; he wouldn't rely on people like Lok to save him...

Now _he _was going to give out some badly deserved pain! And he would start with the Irken who had pretended to be loyal to Envon only to stab him in the back. He bit down on Nick's mangled antenna and pulled hard on it. Nick let out a pained groan as he felt Volt slowly begin to pull away, at risk of losing his damaged antenna. He drew back one fist and rammed it right into Volt's face.

His goggles were smashed from the impact and Volt was knocked clean across the ground. His face bled from cuts and scrapes from the lenses shattering, but luckily the goggles had snapped loose before the glass had broken into many pieces. This caused the glass to fly in opposite directions rather than right into his eyes. Wiping some of the liquid away, Volt came back at Nick with a battle cry and tackled him at the knees. Nick tipped over and they were back to the regular senseless beating of one another.

oXo

Envon and Galla were trading blows quickly, not pausing for a second.

"You're not so bad for an ungifted Tallest!" Galla said, taking an uppercut and retaliating with a left hook to Envon's face.

"I get that-" Envon brought one arm up to stop the Hammer Kick Galla had swung down at his head and then grabbed the Inquisitor by the neck with his other hand. "A lot!"

He swung Galla off his feet and tossed him against the wall next to them. "But before I was Tallest I was a soldier." He held both fists at the ready, not letting his guard down. "What were you when Shadow found you?"

"...an infantry grunt, unlike you." Galla stood up. "Part of the Meekroobian Campaign in its final stages before Invader Tenn totally destroyed the planet. We had neutralized their surface bases and were supposed to be evacuated...only our so called mighty leader Red didn't bother. He just ordered Tenn to blast the whole planet with us on it."

"And let me guess...Shadow showed up at the last second to save you?"

"Wrong, he had approached us before, but many of my company had refused. We were only known for having the most kills in a mission...and the highest casualty rate. We were zealous and foolish...but as I watched the Planet Killer rain down on Meekroob I accepted his proposal out of desperation. He appeared and took me away..." Galla smiled at the memory. "And dragged me out of the muck that is the Crimson Empire. I'm a champion now...and I will defend my master no matter what."

Envon nodded. "I can understand your loyalty, so I won't try to persuade you to change your mind." His PAK legs unfolded. "But I won't let you walk away either. You attacked allies of the Blue Empire and are an ongoing threat to my people."

"A Tallest considering me to be a threat...I am flattered," Galla bent down into a half crouch and shot towards Envon. He darted from side to side as Envon tried to track him with his PAK lasers. When he got close enough Envon jammed two PAK legs down and forced Galla to dodge by gliding to the right. That was when the Tallest knelt and swung his two right PAK legs while twisting his torso counter clockwise. Galla's legs were knocked out from under him.

Before he even hit the ground Envon's two left handed PAK legs swung down again and impaled the Inquisitor. Hissing in pain, Galla arched his back and grasped the PAK legs as Envon drove them deeper. As he was about to snap the PAK legs clean off Envon did it for him by kicking the top of the most distal segments of the PAK legs-which was almost entirely suck through Galla and into the floor. One by one they broke and the metal bent under Envon's strength.

The result was Galla being pinned to the floor through his torso by the two PAK leg segments. He growled and snarled, trying to pull them out and having a hell of a job in succeeding. Envon turned and saw Rine still combating Planet Jacker swordsman in a near one sided fight. Rine's PAK legs darted and jabbed, defending against the incredible display of precision and strength the Planet Jacker possessed.

"You stay there," Envon growled and rushed off to help his nephew.

Galla glared at his back...and cracked a smile. "Heh...so there really is a Tallest besides Shadow who knows how to fight...who would have thought?"

oXo

Alt-Rik swung at Carlos, this time carrying a Shadow Irken blade taken off of a dead Inquisitor rather than forming one of his own-he seemed to expend more energy with every time he did that. The Shadow Irken Blade was stronger than the material he used apparently, since it didn't shatter against Carlos' scaled armour. The 'Chaos Irken' was caught the blade in one hand with an open palm and pushed against Alt-Rik, who matched his strength.

"Can you feel him?" Carlos taunted. "He's digging his way into your mind right now. And if the long worm Irken and his mate aren't dead by now they've been fighting to get free also...and winning. You must be under so much strain." His eyes wandered to the containment tank behind Alt-Rik. "And if that tank bursts...then there goes your last advantage."

Alt-Rik pulled back and swung from the shoulder. Carlos leaped into the air, flying over Alt-Rik and twisting as he slashed up over his head. The Chaos Irken blocked using his forearms again and landed on the steps leading up to the containment tank. The sword was suddenly flung through the air so fast that it sliced into Carlos' shoulder as he leaned back to dodge it. Before he could straighten up Alt-Rik lunged and planted one foot into Carlos' face. He used him as a base to jump from and reach the top of the stairs, pulling his sword out of the stair it was buried into a third of the way down the blade.

Carlos rolled down the stairs to the bottom and looked up as Alt-Rik jumped down towards him with his sword in a reverse grip. He rolled backwards over his head and launched himself off of the floor using his hands. He nimbly landed on his feet and batted away another slash aimed at his throat. Finally he went on the offensive and grabbed Alt-Rik's sword arm. He swung the Irken Champion around and threw him towards the tank.

Rik bounced off of the area the cracks were forming in. Within, the Meekroobian/Irken hybrid stirred a bit as the stasis effect of the tank was beginning to wear off. Soon it would be awake unless the tank was stabilized. The fluid was leaking out through the cracks now...

Carlos smirked, hands on his hips. "Well that ought to do it! Wake up big boy! Wake up and see the world!"

As he stepped up towards Alt-Rik, who was already back up and had his sword in hand Carlos' image began to shimmer. "If I'm going to be living in this body from now on...I think I'll show you how I want it to look. You see often I find myself in a form I don't like...so a little Bio Shifting is required. That is the art of changing one's species entirely."

He held out his arms. "Anything I've ever been, I have the DNA of stored right in me. I just need to introduce the right ones and..." He exhaled, shutting his eyes as he began to change before Alt-Rik's eyes...

Green skin slowly became soft and pink, turning pale with every second. The antennae shrunk down into the ahead and many smaller black things began to grow...hair! The skull was reshaped; heck the entire skeletal and muscular structure of the Irken was being changed! The PAK popped off as the Squeedlyspooch was replaced with many different organs...

Red eyes opened, and a fanged grin was aimed at the shocked Alt-Rik. Before him stood a dark haired human in Rikalo's clothing. His hair was a little shaggy and long, but nothing that a quick comb of his claws couldn't fix. This body, though pale and not thickly carved of muscle had a charm to it. Carlos sighed, looking at his now human hands, with four fingers and a thumb...

"This is how my first vessel looked," He rubbed the sides of his face, which was already growing a bit of a five oh clock shadow. "A little neater than this, but I just love how he looks."

"Now Rikalo definitely won't be using that body again," Alt-Rik muttered. "His conscience belongs in his PAK, and the only body compatible with it is rather...unsuitable."

"Oh one of them is," Carlos nodded.

"One of them...?" Alt-Rik felt a chill pass through him as he realized what Carlos meant. "You think his PAK could ever-"

"It's a long shot...but you both have the exact same body structure, DNA...you'd be a perfect replacement." Carlos wagged one finger. "But here's the best part...you see if I tried to just attach his PAK to you right off the bat while he had this body then his personality would clash with yours. But here's the thing...you just took his whole damn _essence_ into your head, and if he has nowhere else to go then there is only one solution: take over your body. Then there's the problem of your PAK making your personality clash with his. So the next solution is to remove it entirely; essentially replacing you completely as the owner of that body."

Alt-Rik noticed smoke rising off of the Chaos Human, who removed Rikalo's gun belt and long coat. He was left in boots, pants and what was left of Rik's long sleeved red shirt-the sleeves were reduced to tatters from the constant change of form from hands to claws Carlos had endured. He flexed one hand, and an aura of Chaos Energy surrounded him, twisting and spiralling like a vortex.

"So _that_ is exactly what I'll do as a favour to him for releasing me, and for providing me with this new form." Carlos decided. "And that means that I can't afford to play around any longer."

"You've been holding back?" Alt-Rik swallowed, maintaining a calm outer appearance and holding his ground.

"Only the worst of my power," Carlos licked his lips in a predatory way. "Rik's going to need that lovely body of yours intact for when he's done kicking your mental ass."

With that, he reared his head back and opened his mouth. He then lowered his head and shot a jet of blazing hot fire from his mouth! Alt-Rik dove to the side while erecting a telekinetic field-he had abstained from using powers against Rik out of a wish to draw the fight out and make it interesting...that and he felt that using them against an ungifted opponent was cheap, but with a fire shooting demon all bets were off!

A moment after landing with the edge of his coat beginning to burn Alt-Rik realized that he had not been the target...

It was the tank, and the fire was actually a solid stream of molten metal that solidified in mid flight. It struck the tank like a spear, but as fast as a bullet.

Inside, the Meekroobian hybrid named 'Gary' opened its eyes for the first time in its life and saw the point of the spear resting inches from its face.

"Ten'va!" Tal'vo shouted to his female companion as they joined together against Rine. "This is getting too close, get out of here now."

"Not happening," Ten'va replied defiantly as she managed to jab the blade of one spear into Rine's side-though she missed hitting any critical parts of his Squeedlyspooch. "We took this job, we'll see it through!"

"Ten'va look around, they're winning!" Tal'vo hissed into her ear.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Rine, one hand over the wound in his side growled.

"SHUT UP!" They both barked at him at once.

"Well that answers my question." Rine leaped over them when they both swung at him at the same time. Tenva's spear dug into the floor and Tal'vo's sword pushed it deeper before the blade shattered on the shaft of the former weapon.

Landing behind them, Rine balanced on his PAK legs and kicked both Planet Jackers so hard that they stumbled over their own weapons and hit the ground. Rine retracted his PAK legs and smirked at the site of two seriously pissed but now fortunately unarmed Planet Jackers. For a moment they looked like they were considering continuing their battle, but then noticed that their other 'comrades' were not doing much better than they were...

"What is your name, Irken?" Tal'vo demanded.

"...Rine," Rine replied.

"We'll remember it...when we come for your neck." Ten'va hissed before both Planet Jackers literally vanished. Rine noticed a shimmer of movement in the air...Vortian battle cloaks! Functioning ones which could hide a single individual...that was rare; at least the two Planet Jacker mercenaries were using it to get away instead of attacking him under cover. Then again Vortian Cloaking Tech proved impractical in combat so there would not be much use when it kept on flickering on and off every time you struck something.

"Great...I just made my first arch enemies," The Irken muttered.

The whole room shook, because at that moment Carlos had unleashed his attack against the tank containing the hybrid. Rine looked over and braced himself as the tank shattered, and the powerful psionic being within was released.

Xxx

De Rien scrambled over rubble and pieces of gold from statues that Envy had accidently smashed. The monster was tearing apart the city to try and get at the four companions. Finally she tumbled over a low cliff and was caught by the Fragment of her husband, who set her down quickly when he sensed her discomfort at his touch. He understood completely that him being a part of another Rik yet so much like the one she loved as...off putting. The Caterpillar tugged them both down as Envy stomped past in the street outside.

"_**Come out; come out where ever you are, buddy!" **_Envy roared. _**"I'll tear this whole mind apart if that's what it takes to kill you!"**_

"Nothing we hit it with works!" The Caterpillar wanted to believe that Lust had done something to make their attacks effective. Envy's wounds did not heal, but they were not slowing him down either.

"Well at least we can wear him down," The Fragment was doing his best to sound positive. "Give it a little time, we just gotta be careful and he'll come down before we know it."

Paneece nodded. "De, can you make bigger weapons yet?"

"I've been trying to, but every time I try to make something it either snaps or it doesn't shoot!" De shook her head.

"Don't try to picture the inner workings of a gun or worry about your weapon snapping," The Fragment said. "That's what causes them to fail here. Just picture how a gun fires in real life, how strong a weapon would be in real life...and picture them being ten times as powerful."

It wasn't much of an assurance but it was an instruction that allowed De to form a copy of her battle staff. She looked at the weapon and swung it against the ground once. It stood firm and undamaged.

"You're gettin' the hang of it now darlin'," The Fragment grinned.

"Please don't call me that," De whispered, looking away. "Only _my_ Rik calls me that."

"Oh...right," The Fragment nodded, embarrassed. "Sorry about that...De Rien."

"He's coming back, move!" The Caterpillar shouted, snatching up Paneece and leaping away from the pile of rubble they had used as a hiding spot from the monster, which swung one tentacle down towards them.

Rik and De Rien dodged it, only for multitudes of smaller tentacles to pour out from under the surface. De swung and knocked several away, feeling at home with the staff in hand. She even added a blade to the end and sliced through several of the twisting, coiling appendages as they reached for her. The central tentacle rose back up into the air and De was given some breathing space.

But then another came down at an angle, instead of straight down to crush De Rien. It swung her through the air at speeds that would have resulted in her death in the real world, but here she managed to use her control of the dream realm in a fit of desperation to slow herself down. It felt like her head would explode from manipulating the dream to such a simple yet massive extent, but she landed softly as though she weighed little more than a feather.

With her hands on her head, she was unaware of any growing danger until she heard The Caterpillar. "Look out!"

He tugged her off of her feet a second later and managed to avoid being crushed by another of Envy's tentacles.

"_**One of you will trip eventually, and I have all the time in the world to enjoy myself until that happens!" **_Envy laughed, carelessly crushing more buildings and knocking over taller ones. He was chasing after The Caterpillar and De-who recovered enough to run now. The monster reached out with one of its hands-which had maintained their normal shape despite being growing to the size of a train. He was about to swing down and crush them both-or try to, he didn't care when he felt a stinging pain from the back of his head.

He howled and reached for it, but it was gone by the time he snatched at the source. He felt something on his skin...

"DARTH! GET THE HELL AWAY!" The Fragment of Rik shouted as he scrambled along Envy's hide using his PAK legs. "RUN FOR IT BUDDY!"

The Caterpillar and De used this distraction to slip into an alley and out of sight as Envy tried to shake the Fragment off. He threw himself from side to side to shake Rik off, but his PAK legs would always dig in far too deep for that. He kept on firing a pistol into Envy's head at point blank range where ever he went, enjoying the advantage of a pistol that never overheated or ran out of ammo so long as he remained focused on it being just that.

"Just a matter of time you bloated lizard!" Rik chuckled. "I'm gonna find a brain under all this eventually!"

"_**Really? I can find one a lot faster,"**_ Suddenly one of Envy's tentacles found Rik and tugged at him, snapping his PAK legs and swinging him upwards. _**"By smashing you open and hoping it comes out intact!"**_

The Caterpillar gasped. "No!" He rushed out of the alley, De behind him and Paneece rushing at the colossal monster from behind. But it was too late.

Rik was fighting to get free and repair his PAK legs at the same time, but Envy crushing the life from him made it hard to focus. The monster became bored of this after mere seconds of initiating it and chose to end it...by slamming Rik into the ground at over a hundred miles per hour.

_Crunch!_

The Caterpillar stopped short, one hand held out as he saw blood seep out from the tentacle that had crushed perhaps the last part of the Irken whom he had been friends with since his childhood. The tentacle was moved back and forth as insult to injury, spreading more of what little was left of Rik under it on dirt and stone. Finally it lifted up, leaving only a large red stain and scraps of clothing left...

"You..." Paneece shook.

The Caterpillar felt tears pouring down his face as he stared at the remains of his oldest friend. De Rien was vomiting next to him. Seeing the mirror image of her husband being so viciously killed was beyond shocking for her.

"_You...!_"

"_**I always wanted to do that...he was always so high and mighty,"**_ Envy licked bits of meat, bone and blood off of the appendage he had used to crush Rik with.

"_MONSTER!"_ Paneece shrieked, unleashing a wave of telekinetic force that actually lifted Envy off his feet and launched the gargantuan beast down the street. It flew over The Caterpillar and De, the rush of wind knocking them over. Now Paneece was also crying, but what she shed was tears of rage rather than sorrow. _"HE WAS BETTER THAN ALL OF YOU PUT TOGETHER!"_

The fragment had helped them through so much, fought alongside them and saved their lives with his help. To see him so viciously murdered and his remains disrespected set Paneece off. She struck Envy with wave after wave of crushing force that made blood flow from her mouth and eyes for the effort it took to manipulate the dream realm so much. But she didn't notice her own deteriorating condition until The Caterpillar reached her as she stormed towards the fallen Envy.

He wrapped his arms around her and stopped her from getting any closer to the monster who was now clinging to life. She tried to launch another telekinetic attack, but The Caterpillar used his own natural mental abilities to stop her. "Paneece, stop! If you keep doing this you'll kill yourself along with Envy!"

"Let! Me! Go!" Paneece shrieked, kicking and swearing in Irken.

Envy shrunk down to his normal Irken form, groaning as he pushed himself up to a standing position. His right arm was hanging limp and he was bleeding from many places. "You..." He growled. "I...why should you get to leave...why do you get to have your happy ending?"

De glared at the monster before trying to help calm Paneece down. She stood in front of her and held her wrists as The Caterpillar smoothed her antennae back. Eventually their efforts began to have an effect. Paneece settled down, reduced to just crying as The Caterpillar held her in a gentle embrace. De turned to look at Envy, who was trying to return to his monstrous form without success. The wounds sustained from Paneece's costly attack would not heal even if he had a doctor to treat them one at a time...

It was a matter of time before he collapsed dead from blood loss.

"The man you crushed...he was more like my husband than you'd ever be," She spat on the ground in front of him. "We're leaving after you're finally dead," She glanced at The Caterpillar. "That's the deal here, right?" He nodded, wiping blood from Paneece's face.

"Good," She looked back to Envy.

"No...I-I won't..." Envy groaned as he strained to return to his monster form. "I am Envy...this place is my world! I am **God** here! Not you! Not the worm! Not his whore! Not that copy! ME-"

DOW! The back of Envy's head exploded.

"...then pardon me for being a little sacrilegious," A familiar voice said. "But I think I've just gone against God and won."

De turned and saw Rikalo standing before her, holstering his gun. "A-another copy?"

"Copy? What in the hell did I miss here?" Rik asked. "Tell me darlin', could a copy make you feel...this?" He pulled her into a kiss, leaning her back and holding her off of the ground as she held onto his neck. When they were done he set her back on her feet.

"It-it's the real Rik!" De said, blushing.

The Caterpillar looked up from Paneece and examined the Irken. This was the alternate of the Rik he knew...he did not seem too different to what his Champion once was, though he looked a lot scruffier thanks to his attire. He stood up, carrying the quivering form of Paneece. "You are Rikalo 'Rik'?"

"The one and only before another me popped up," Rik replied. "And then there was that freaky one in the robe there." He obviously had not seen the death of the Fragment.

"Well with him dead...we are free now!" The Caterpillar realized. "There are no more barriers stopping me from ending this!"

"Well then I'd suggest you get to it big fella," Rik nodded. "I want to be out of here before dinner and back on my ship with my wife before midnight."

The Caterpillar shut his eyes, feeling Paneece relax in his arms as he willed the now exposed mind of Alt-Rikalo to release them. The world began to come apart one by one, piece by piece...

And then it was all gone.

All except for Rik that is.

The Irken blinked, looking around in confusion at the white void he now stood in. "...was this part of Tall Bright and Spiffy's plan? Because if so I'm hatin' ever second of it now."

"It isn't...he simply couldn't take you with them." Rik faced the new speaker, who stood mere feet from him.

"Holy...what the hell are you?"

"Nothing special," The Meekroobian Hybrid replied, arms crossed and standing naked in front of the shocked Irken. "But you can call me Gary. Now...I'm not happy with what your other self was doing with my power...so I'm going to help you out of here." He cracked a smile. "After all Rikalo, the enemy of my enemy is my friend...my greatest friend in this situation."

Xxx

List of Villains (Since I have all the heroes memorized) and who they are fighting

**Shadow- Evil Tallest/Kronos**

**Belthiad- Bounty Hunter/Zim and Gaz**

**Alternate Rik (Alt-Rik) - Evil Rikalo from another universe with powers / Carlos**

**White- Chronokinetic (time controlling) mercenary/ Skullene, Skoodge and Grim**

**Miyuki-Resurrected mutant Tallest/ Skullene, Skoodge and Grim**

**Frequency- Blue furred 'wave riding' mercenary and surfer (DOWN)**

**Nick- Senior Communications Officer and Double Agent for Shadow/Volt**

**Ten'va (Female Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses spears as weapons (ESCAPED)**

**Tal'vo (Male Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses a sword for a weapon (ESCAPED)**

**Galla- Inquisitor for Shadow/ Envon (DOWN)**

I made this early in the morning again, so the end is rushed in my opinion.


	34. NOT CHAPTER, Opening Sequence Submition

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

The following material is a work made by RangerShep.

Xxx

For anybody interested, an intro sequence was submitted through private messaging-actually by RangerShep, a friend of mine from real life and a newcomer to Fanfiction who is trying his hand at typing.

I think I'll just put it up here...

Lifeline is property of Papa Roach

Yes I am sorry this is NOT a chapter, but filler while I work on the current one-which has a good 7 pages now.

Let it begin!

_**Bold and Italics= Actions/Descriptions**_

_Italics= Lyrics_

(From this point on its RangerShep's work)

Xxx

_**The music begins to play as Rikalo sits on an edge, hood pulled over his head as it rains.**_

_**The music picks up as Rik's hood is blown back and he looks up to see an Irken ship hovering overhead. On it stands the Alternate Rik, arms crossed and a smug grin on his face. Rik stands up, glaring back up at Alt-Rik and draws his guns. Alt-Rik leaps from the ship, whipping out his own weapons as he and Rik jump towards one another. They clash...**_

_**Scene changes to show Rikalo as a smeet standing in line with many others.**_

_When I was a boy, I didn't care about a thing!_

_It was me in this world, and a broken dream!_

_I was blaming myself for all that was going wrong!_

_**Rik is tugged out of the line and is set back down in battle armour and carrying a too-big rifle. The smeets around him are likewise armed and clothed. Rik shakes as a set of doors shut in front of them, revealing that they were inside a transport shuttle that launched from the Massive towards a nearby planet.**_

_**The ship lands and the doors open, showing that all of the smeets are now full grown adults. They charge out, Rikalo leading the way. Rik stops as he sees a battlefield before him filled with dead and dying soldiers, both Irken and Vortian.**_

_I was way out there_

_On the wrong side of town_

_**Rik pushes away from his fellow soldiers and turns away, head in his hands.**_

_And the ones that I loved_

_I started pushin' them out._

_**Rik looks up and he is now looking up at a smiling De Rien. She offers a hand, and he slowly reaches out and takes it.**_

_And I realized_

_That it was all my fault!_

_**De tugs Rik up and they stumble a few steps only to be caught by their friends, all smiling warmly as they stand around the couple.**_

_I've been looking for a life line!_

_**The ground shakes and the plane seems to tip over and sends Rik and De rolling away from their friends. They stand up facing Tallest Shadow and Alt-Rik. They tense, ready to fight.**_

_For what seems like a life time!_

_**The other heroes and villains clash around them in a vicious battle. Rik wraps his arms around De and swings her out of the way of a blast of energy in time. Then Shadow lands before them, striking the ground and making it rise up in a wave that launches the couple back.**_

_I'm drowning in the pain_

_Breaking down again_

_Looking for a lifeline!_

_**They are caught in mid flight by the Caterpillar, who sets them down.**_

_So I put out my hand_

_And I asked for some help_

_**Rik and De exchange a nod and rush back towards Shadow. They jump in the air and land a simultaneous kick to Shadow, launching him back only for Alt-Rik to leap up, propel himself off of Shadow and further into the air.**_

_We tore down the walls I built around myself_

_**Rik and De are blinded by the sun as they follow Alt-Rik's jump, but dodge when he lands anyways. De cartwheels out of the way while Rik rolls out of harm's way. Alt-Rik grins in a feral way and charges, attacking De, who dodges a roundhouse kick and then leaps up over punch, placing her feet on it and leaping off and away from Alt-Rik, who is put off balance.**_

_I was struck by the light_

_And I fell to the ground!_

_**De lands, but the scene changes to her grasping at Rik's arm as he steps out of their house. She desperately shouts at him, but he pushes her off and vanishes when the shadow of a tree passes over him for a moment.**_

_I've been looking for a lifeline! (Chorus: Looking for a lifeline!)_

_For what seems like a lifetime! (Chorus: Seems like a lifetime!)_

_**De scrambles to her feet and finds Alt-Rik standing before her instead. She backs away as the scene changes to a cave, and then she whips out her combat staff.**_

_I'm drowning in the pain_

_Breaking down again_

_Looking for a lifeline (Chorus: Looking for a lifeline!)_

_**She swings at Alt-Rik, who leaps back into a passage. She chases him, and ends up falling down through a black void.**_

_Is there anybody out there?_

_Can you pull me from this ocean of despair?_

_**She is caught by the normal Rik, and they are in the containment chamber, which is devoid of any life except for them. One of Rik's eyes have an orange iris in them as he leans in and kisses De, who relaxes into it slowly.**_

_I'm drowning in the pain_

_Breaking down again_

_Looking for a lifeline (Chorus: Looking for a lifeline!)_

_**The view zooms out from the couple and the title 'Masked Contritence' appears**_

_Looking for a life line (Chorus: Line! Line! Line!)_

_**Scene fades completely**_

_**End**_

Let's hear some applause for RangerShep.


	35. Apocalypse Arc, Shadow Unveiled

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

These next few chapters introduce a series of minor villains, which ngrey assisted in providing. You will see some familiar faces in this, but I promise that a lot of these minor villains won't last.

Also, to separate individual fights I will put an - between each fight. The triple X line (Xxx) is for different scenes and locations or points of view.

Xxx

_**Do we remember the puzzle we all talked about? The pieces are those who are responsible for how the galaxy is today...**_

_**Envon, who triggered civil war.**_

_**The Caterpillar, whose unification of the Irken Race was reversed in this universe, scattering it further.**_

_**Alternate-Rik, who has worked behind the scenes for years to feed the flames of war...**_

_**And now the fourth piece is Tallest Shadow, otherwise known as Lok Hunter. He assisted the 'Visitor in the Dark' with its plans, helping it to cross back and forth across universes and allowing it to wreak havoc on both.**_

_**The fifth piece is actually Skullene, who had faked her death and caused Envon to go into his murderous rage. Now she had no intentional part in this, neither had The Caterpillar. Envon planned in advance to separate from the empire, and Alt-Rikalo was downright determined to fuel the flames of any war that would exterminate the rest of his race so don't think he didn't play a part in breaking the empire apart. Tallest Shadow may not have killed Purple...but he did let it happen like everything else, guilty of his own inaction.**_

_**Who is the sixth piece? You'll see...**_

_**The seventh is the biggest yet most obvious mystery. You think that you know what it is now but you're wrong, trust me.**_

Xxx

"This is the other Rik's mind," Rik said, watching as orbs of soft light floated by him and the one named Gary. The Meekroobian Hybrid floated around him, absent mindedly bumping some of the orbs away as though they were a child's play toys. The turquoise blue alien's long, thicker antennae swayed back and forth as it hummed under its breath. They looked more like the tendril limbs of the Meekroob, a matching turquoise blue and swaying gently in a nonexistent breeze. His eyes were pitch black, giving him a rather discomforting appearance.

"Indeed," Gary gently plucked one ball of light out of the air, holding it delicately between a finger and thumb. "And these are his fragments. This should be filled with many versions of yourself to hold all of the memory."

"Why would there be?"

"A computer sorts files into folders, think of the different Rikalos as folders. A folder for anger, love, misery, greed..." Gary held up the light. "And a central fragment, to represent what you once were...like this one. It is dying because it was killed in this mind, trying to help your friends escape."

Rikalo hadn't seen the fragment in action. "I didn't know that...what was he like?"

"A lot like you actually," Gary held the light out to Rik. It was flickering, threatening to die. "A strong moral standing, determined to achieve his goal...and self sacrificing."

The light then vanished, a small pile of black ashes falling to the floor. The other lights moved away from this as though the death of one of their own had affected them. But slowly several more turned to ashes; they were Wrath, Pride, Greed, Gluttony and Envy, who had died by the hand of the imprisoned Irkens. The white void turned a shade of grey, close to becoming dark as a moonless night.

Rik shivered, feeling like the eternally distant plane was becoming the size of a closet. He resisted the urge to hug himself. Gary took him by the shoulder and led him away from the ash piles towards brighter lights that appeared as they walked. Soon everything was back to normal.

"To have one of these lights die...is to have a part of your very soul die," He whispered. "And before we are done...many pieces of this Rik shall die for you. You must take over this mind Rikalo."

"How the hell do I do that? Won't I need a PAK that I'm compatible to in order to survive?" Rik asked.

"The one known as Carlos plans to remove this body's PAK and replace it with your own. That way when you take full control you will not be forced to fight with your alternate's mind for dominance." Gary explained.

"Wait, before we do this...what about _my _body? Why do I need this one?"

"...Carlos has irreversibly transformed your body into that of a human."

"...I'm gonna dunk that son of a bitch in liquid hydrogen when I get outta here!"

"That will have to wait," Gary sighed. "...the other Rik is coming."

Xxx

Skullene was in no condition to fight after her near death experience, and thus Grim was forced to protect her from Miyuki's attacks. He was trying to avoid hurting Miyuki-now believing beyond a doubt that she was truly his mother, and that he did not want to lose her again. Skoodge was fighting against the human albino named White...and was getting his ass kicked. Now Skoodge was a good invader, better than Zim and perhaps better than even Tak, but White was a Chronokinetic...

And he knew several forms of martial arts, both from Earth and other planets. He was quite simply kicking Skoodge's ass back and forth across the room, dodging every shot the Irken fired at him and disarming him of his rifle. He was not exchanging words with Skoodge, no taunts or bragging...just a cold stare that made Skoodge feel all the more helpless at the hands of his opponent. Finally White kicked him in the stomach and launched him up onto the higher areas of the room nearer to the walls where the floor was not sinking in.

"One down," White shook his hand, which had bruises on the knuckles. "I thought he was the chubby one, not the strong one."

"He's not the strong one, he's the smart one." White turned just as a stone struck him in the face. "_I'm the strong one._"

Skullene was standing upright, but struggling to stay that way. That old flare had returned to her eyes, the one lost when her PAK had shattered and her personality was slowly eaten away along with her memories until only a husk of a smeet remained in a grown body. With the repairs made to her PAK she was back to her full combat capacity...and fuelled by rage and indignation at what had been done to her. What was worse she was using the very same thing Paneece had used while trying to escape from the Caterpillar: the Invader issue Vortex Disruption unit built into her PAK.

Skoodge had had his removed after he had conquered Blorch; although it was rather against his will as he had been demoted from Invader to Grunt. White had mopped the floor with him because of this but now he was not facing an opponent who moved at a tenth of their real speed. Skullene's first blow caught him off guard when he tried to slow down time so he could get in close and kick at her. She twisted out of the way of his kick and then twisted clockwise, her left fist slamming into White's face and sending him flying. He landed and rolled a bit before slamming into a wall.

"Get the hell up!" Skullene snarled, flexing her fingers before balling her hands back into fists. "I'm not done with you yet."

White may not have had his powers, but he was far from helpless. He met Skullene head on with skills that rivalled her own years of training and near two centuries of combat. He was still faster than Skullene, but she was more or less evenly matched against him. He focused more on elbow strikes and thrusting kick movements while Skullene matched it with sweeping kicks, knee strikes and lunges with a punch or kick included.

More often than not Skullene's feet were off the ground and her PAK legs or hands held her up. She aimed high, striking the torso or head while White was trying to target specific bones in her body, specifically her clavicles. If those broke then only muscles would keep her arms attached to her body-another similarity the Irkens shared with humanity. Granted the bones were stronger and would be forced back into position to heal by the nanites flooding the average Irken's anatomy; Skullene would be helpless.

But she never gave him a chance to land such a bone shattering attack. She was too fast, and her VD field was constantly active to keep White from using Chronokinesis to his advantage. Also, she was more durable than him judging from the fact that when he struck her she would hardly flinch and would carry through with an attack if she was in the middle of one while hit. So White had to wear her down bit by bit and avoid taking any serious blows of his own.

This was easier said than done.

Grim was hit in the chin by Miyuki's tail, and moved with the blow by performing a back flip. He launched himself off of the ground using his hands halfway through and landed several feet away. Miyuki twisted and shot in every direction to confuse him, but he usually managed to predict her next vector of attack. He struck out and sliced into the meat of her long serpent like body-which reminded him of The Caterpillar's. She recoiled and moved further off.

"You always were a good boy, dewo Grimrair," Miyuki cooed as she circled in preparation for another strike. "Always looking out for the family. I always told you to take it easy or you'd spend yourself on the others completely!"

She was using her own memories-the ones they both shared of events to make Grim lose focus. It was already hard enough to fight his mother, but when she kept on talking about 'the good old days' when she was still alive Grim's arms felt like lead in mid swing. It also left him open to the odd blow or two; he was slipping up more and more.

"Come back to me...dewo _Grimrair,_" Miyuki said soothingly.

"Shut _up _already _maneeme!_" Grim suddenly retorted aggressively before kicking her in the gut area. She hissed and tried to coil around him, but he held the burning blade of his sickles and drove her away. "I don't know what the hell that Cruelty thing is, but when I get my hands on it I'm gonna rip it out of your hand and crush it into powder!"

He fused his sickles into a single scythe and held it parallel to the floor. "So come on maneeme...show me your left hand..."

Miyuki hissed and dove right at Grim, her talon like hands bared in preparation to rip him apart.

He swung just as she came into range.

Xxx

Belthiad was dragged up the stairs by Alt-Rik, who was just barely keeping control of himself now that the real Rik was in his head. He tossed the battered and wounded bounty hunter to Shadow's feet. Nick stood by them, staring down Volt. The assembled groups of Envon's rescue team and Rik's crew stood together. Gary was floating in place where he had been released, his oddly shaped yet strangely beautiful form glowing as it remained in a fetal position.

The Monarch and Tenn were tending to De Rien, who found it harder to stand after the beating Alt-Rik had given her during her capture. But Paneece and The Caterpillar had joined their comrades and looked ready to kill after all they had been put through. Carlos was blowing imaginary dust off of his knuckles-while Alt-Rik bore very real bruises and cuts from the beating the Chaos Spirit in human form had given him.

"You..." The Caterpillar would have been foaming at the mouth by now if he was any more furious. "You gutless little _scum!_"

"Heard worse from you, _buddy._" Alt-Rik huffed.

"Not you...him," The Caterpillar pointed at Shadow. "I see Drosco's thought, _Lok Hunter!_ How could one like you fall so far?"

Shadow's face twitched ever so slightly as he fought to remain in control of his emotions. "Never call me that again, Darithil."

"So what, did you get mad because you lost Kay? You went over to work for that...**abomination** because if you couldn't be happy, nobody could?" The Caterpillar demanded. "Look at what it's done to you! Drosco can't even look at you the same way now!"

"Let him speak his own thoughts instead of reading them to me!" Shadow demanded.

"Oh so that's the one thing that can make the mighty Tallest Shadow lose his cool," The Caterpillar kept going.

"For an emperor this guy ain't so bad," Carlos said with an amused grin as he crossed his arms.

"Lok..." Drosco's voice was barely heard, but it was enough for The Caterpillar to stop and let him through. He stared at Tallest Shadow, his face stained with tears. "...no...You're not Lok."

Shadow's face fell, as if those three words were worse than anything he had ever endured in his life time. "D-Drosco?"

"You're not my Lok," Drosco shook his head. "You're a monster! You're some parasite who twisted him until he became the very thing he hated!"

Shadow did not look angry...he looked _devastated_ as Drosco continued to rage against him. "Lok would never do all of the things you've done! He'd never create the Inquisitors! He hates tormenting and hurting others! He hates the height hierarchy, he hates causing pain! He hates people like _you!_" He pointed at Shadow. "And I had the one real piece of him that was left before you took him away!"

Shadow clenched his teeth together. "Shut up..."

"Face it Shadow, you'll never be my Lok!" Drosco shouted with a look of absolute disgust on his face. "You're just some leech wearing his-"

His eyes fell on something that shocked him. "...face...?"

Shadow's companions turned and looked up at their leader. They were met with something that was nothing short of unbelievable and unnatural...

Shadow's shoulders were hunched, and his head bowed a bit with his eyes on the ground. _Tears_ were slipping down his face from eyes that were no longer black as night, but now a deep purple. His smooth, pale and almost dead looking skin was a deeper, healthier shade...

He looked like the old Lok Hunter.

"D-Drosco I..." Lok slowly brought one hand up and wiped his tears away. "I'm sorry...I gave myself to it...I'm so sorry-" He groaned, and instantly he looked like the Almighty Tallest Shadow once more...

And he didn't look sad anymore, he looked mad. "Stay the florp out of my **head!**"

He thrust his arms forward, and a series of black tendrils shot out and slammed into the group as one. They were knocked halfway across the room-with the exception of Drosco who had gone untouched by the vicious counterattack. He watched as Shadow thrust both hands up. An oily substance seeped out of him and floated around his group. They all gathered around him, gripping one another by the arms tightly.

Alt-Rik suddenly began to groan again, clutching his head.

"Rik, what's wrong?" Nick asked.

"...plenty of things," When Rik looked at him it wasn't with that merciless, furious set of bloodthirsty eyes...

It was with a cocky grin.

"For one thing, I should be over _thatta way!_" He leaped out of the circle of floating liquid and landed next to Gary. The hybrid slowly lowered itself to the floor and stood on its own two feet.

_Well that was difficult._ Gary did not speak with his mouth. _But for now you have control of that body, and the other Rik cannot do anything._

"Good...now I'll just find the ass hole who took my real body," Rik muttered. "But first, before I end up forgetting and that guy who I have the misfortune of having for a twin tries take back control later..." He tore his own PAK off and threw it aside, "Much better!" He did not even mind that the Life Clock had started its countdown.

Meanwhile Galla, who had somehow freed himself of Envon's PAK leg shot past Drosco and stopped next to his Tallest. He looked back at the group and winked once before the black floating liquid sped up until it became a vortex around the four...

And then they were simply gone.

"...You're not Rik," The Caterpillar said as the fighters regrouped. "Not the one we fought..."

"You are indeed correct my fine flexible friend," Rik nodded. "I'd be the Good Rik. You know, I'm the one with that charmin' personality we all love? Just for future reference..." His eyes settled on Carlos, who wore Rik's clothes. "...words cannot begin to describe the shit you have buried yourself in if that's my body I'm lookin' at, punk."

Carlos felt the eyes of every conscious human, Irken, and hybrid on him. He grinned sheepishly, "Uh..._wuz up_?" When nobody laughed he held up the real Rikalo's PAK. "Before you kick my ass, you might want to give this to Rikky there. I'd hate for him to drop dead in the middle of my beating."

Rik stormed over and snatched it away. Meanwhile Paneece took the liberty of having the first hit.

SLAP!

"...thank you sir, may I have another?"

CRUNCH! Kronos took the liberty of the second hit.

"Ow...okay that one hurt."

Xxx

White stopped in the middle of swinging an uppercut at Skullene and shot across the room. He grabbed Frequency off of the floor, tucking him under one arm. "Time to go, pal."

He looked at Skullene and Skoodge. "I'll see you again," He winked at Skullene and flipped Skoodge the potent bird digit before he rushed towards Miyuki...

Only to see that he was too late. She lay curled up on the floor, quivering in pain as the hand that had held the Cruelty Stone lay several feet from her while a brand new hand was forming already. Grim stood over her with the energy blade of his scythe now inactive and only a superficial wound on his chest to show for the blow that severed. He dropped the pole and knelt by Miyuki, cradling her upper body in his arms as he held her close desperately. It was like he was afraid that she would vanish.

White was about to knock him out and take her anyways, but stopped as he saw Grim's face. The Invader, who had killed countless in cold blood was crying over his restored mother and hugging her like he was just a smeet again. If he had any more ideas to take Miyuki by force, they vanished when a knife flew by his head. He looked back up and saw Skoodge giving Skullene knives he was pulling from his PAK.

"Damn, my aim's getting lousy," The blue eyed Irken grunted before rearing her arm back to throw another.

White chose that moment to use his Chronokinesis to just get the hell out of there...

Miyuki might have been too heavy to carry with him anyways.

At least he told himself that to explain why he left her behind. But at least he stopped to collect the Cruelty Stone; mostl because if he didn't Shadow would kick his ass for leaving it behind later.

Xxx

Zomg finally!

End of chapter and hopefully soon to end this so I can make the sequel...which you shall love...or you shall die! (Thrust my hands in your direction)...that was supposed to shoot lightning at you all...oh well, nerd fail. Read and Review!

Will Carlos be beaten to death? Will Shadow revert to Lok? Will all these ridiculous amount of plots ever converge entirely? No, maybe and not likely!

Now for one final list.

**Shadow- Evil Tallest (ESCAPED)**

**Belthiad- Bounty Hunter (ESCAPED)**

**Alternate Rik (Alt-Rik) - Evil Rikalo from another universe with powers (NOW POSSESSED)**

**White- Chronokinetic (time controlling) mercenary (ESCAPED)**

**Miyuki-Resurrected mutant Tallest (CAPTURED)**

**Frequency- Blue furred 'wave riding' mercenary and surfer (DOWN)**

**Nick- Senior Communications Officer and Double Agent for Shadow (ESCAPED)**

**Ten'va (Female Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses spears as weapons (ESCAPED)**

**Tal'vo (Male Planet Jacker) - Mercenary, uses a sword for a weapon (ESCAPED)**

**Galla- Inquisitor for Shadow/ Envon (ESCAPED)**


	36. The Storm Has Passed

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

Xxx

_**Ah...finally, the fighting is over. Now I won't lie, we're nearing the ending...of this part. The next one won't be as simple as fighting and winning.**_

_**Shang Yis learned this when he finished conquering Irk and formed the Irken Empire. He knew that an empire was a threat to itself unless the ruler was strong enough to overcome both internal and external threats. Yet he feared he would become a dictator to his people rather than a leader. He constantly investigated the members of his own court and the governments ruling over the continents in his name.**_

_**Within a month he found one general, formerly a very trusted woman planning to assassinate him to take the throne for herself. He challenged her to a duel and won...but spared her, saying that she would not die for treason; she would suffer if she ever thought she was worthy to rule in his stead. He told her and all present that Emperors do not deceive and sneak around, they stand tall and strong. If anybody wanted his throne...all they had to do was kill him in single combat.**_

_**So if any assassin ever managed to take his life, he would be worthy to rule briefly...before the next assassin. Thus it became a law that if any wished to become the new Irken Emperor, all they had to do was kill him in single combat.**_

_**Tallest Blood had enough soldiers and slaughtered enough members of the government and courts that nobody was able to argue with him.**_

Xxx

_Flashing lights, dozens of dancing aliens, the best alcohol this side of the system..._

_It was heaven to Drosco._

_The Irken was a regular at the Zedian Shade club, so much so that he was on a first name basis with every bar tender who worked there, and the bouncer at the front door. He gave the planet jacker a kiss on the cheek-their usual greeting as he was let in. He cast a glance around, and to his disappointment didn't find anybody who suited the following criteria..._

_Number One- Male._

_Number Two- Single._

_Number Three- Doesn't have horns or tentacles._

_Number Four- Sexy._

_Except for one Irken sitting at the bar._

_Something clicked in Drosco's head._

_One- The Irken was male, definitely, no mistaking it in this light with antennae like that and strong arms like that._

_Two- The Irken was alone, definitely not here for a date._

_Three- Being an Irken like Drosco, he had no tentacles or horns._

_And Four- He wasn't bad looking. He was probably a soldier, or ex-soldier. There were faint traces of old scars on his arms where they weren't covered by the tight shirt and gloves the Irken wore. And the knee high boots he wore could have hidden a weapon or two in them. Possibly a mercenary? Bounty Hunter?_

_He looked and sounded too care free for a career like that. As Lok sipped his first glass, Drosco slipped over until he was beside him._

_"Hey there handsome," Drosco winked at the Irken, who glanced at him._

_A smile crossed the half drunk Lok Hunter's face as he looked the taller Irken over from head to toe, "Hey there big guy."_

_That was how it all began for Lok and Drosco. What had first began as what was meant to be a brief fling turned into a second night, a third...a week, a month, a year._

_Drosco became a regular on the Omni-Hunter for a while, returning home to earn money and maintain his shop. On one such trip he returned to find the Omni-Hunter gone along with Kay, and Lok unable to go a minute without crying his eyes out._

Xxx

"The armada should show up soon," Envon said, easing Kronos into a sitting position on the stairs. "Until then we'd all better just take it easy..."

"Skullene, Grimrair and Skoodge are still out there fighting more of Shadow's people." The Monarch said. "Tenn, come with me. If they are having any trouble you and I are the best suited to help out."

"Yes M'lady!" Tenn stood up and rushed for the doors.

"Hey, I'm coming too!" Rine chased after her

The Monarch paused to place another kiss on The Caterpillar's head. "I'll be back soon, Darth." She followed along after Tenn and Rine as the Caterpillar smiled. His body was wrapped protectively around Paneece, who was having some actual rest after the nightmarish fighting she had to go through in Alt-Rik's head.

Though still married to The Monarch, he had given himself to multiple women brought to Settlement A1 for the sake of breeding. Though he had several children, he never saw them due to the requirement that they be raised among the other several hundred smeets in preparation for a strenuous adulthood. But this one smeet...he would not let go, and he wouldn't just forget about the mother either. The Monarch and he had an understanding after the day when the virus had almost entirely purged their fertility rate...

That as long as they still loved one another, it didn't matter who else they were attached to. The Monarch could already tell that her husband had developed feelings for Paneece beyond the care and concern that he had shown her during her captivity. Perhaps their time in Alt-Rik's mind had brought them closer...

Zim approached Gaz as she worked on a damaged part of her armour. "Gaz-Sla-...Gaz, do you need help with that?"

She spared him a glance. "Can you get it off?"

"Zim shall do so," They sat down, and Zim began to fiddle with the Irken armour until it popped off. Gaz sighed in relief, rubbing her wrist.

"Something about that was making my wrist hurt."

"Zim believes that you have developed minor damage to your tendons in that area from all of the fighting," Zim stated. "Perhaps you did not notice because of the onboard supply of pain killers Zim had installed. Luckily it cut out, if you kept on fighting with that Zim would need to perform surgery to repair the damage. It is a quick fix, so off with the glove!"

Gaz raised one eyebrow. "Did you just order me to-?"

"Gaz as your temporary doctor the almighty Zim commands you to remove your glove!" Zim declared in an act of what was either bravery or stupidity. "Or Zim shall sick his robot on you!"

"I was here _aaaaall _along!" GIR said, popping out from behind Zim with Minimoose circling overhead again. "We were takin' pictures!"

"Nyah!" Minimoose stopped, and a photo slid out of his side, showing Zim getting punched in the face by Belthiad during the fight...and so did the net fifty or so photos.

Blushing furiously, Zim growled. "Enough you two-"

"It's off."

"Huh?" Zim looked at Gaz, who held up her pale hand. It was red at the wrist a bit, and swelling slightly.

"Now fix my wrist."

"Zim shall do so at once!" Zim declared before going to work on his..._ex_ slave's wrist.

Meanwhile Drosco was sitting further off from the others until Envon walked over and sat next to him. The orange eyed Irken looked up at his Tallest. "...you saw him."

Envon nodded. "Maybe there really is a bit of him left under all of that." He smirked. "Lok never did like to go quietly with anything." He rubbed Drosco's back. "...now we know that he's still alive; al we have to do is bring him in so we can find out how to help him."

"You would do that?"

"I'd do it for my greatest friend," Envon corrected him. "But everybody gets one, remember that."

They shared a brief laugh together.

Xxx

When they found Skullene, Grim and Skoodge they were already halfway to the Containment Chamber...carrying a serpentine Irken who was similar to The Caterpillar in many ways except that it was female and had blue eyes...

"What is that thing?" Rine swallowed, looking to Skullene, who was supporting Miyuki under one arm.

"Rine, dear..." Skullene smiled. "Say hello to grandma when she wakes up. She's been out for a _long_ time."

Xxx

"_Rik?...Rik? It's time to get up," She shook Rik, who was lying on his side in bed. "Come on Rik get up."_

_He opened one red eye and grinned before De Rien was suddenly pulled down onto the bed with him. She let out a squeak and began to squirm. "R-Rik come on I-" Then she felt him tickling her. "Rik stop I-oh!" She couldn't hold it in anymore._

"S-STOP!" She opened her eyes and looked up at the smiling face of her husband. That kind, loving smile he reserved for her. Rik withdrew his hand.

"All yah gotta do is say please, darlin'." He said before he leaned down and claimed her lips with a kiss. De wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, slowly relaxing as Rik held her. The rest of the group had the decency to look away and give them some privacy. A soft rumble escaped De Rien's throat; she felt one hand massage her antennae back against her head.

She was in heaven.

Carlos sighed. "I'm on the other side of a room as wide as the Roman Coliseum, yet I can _still _feel the hormones coming off those two." He was sitting under the watchful eye of the Caterpillar, who was ready to use a series of psychic attacks ranging from telekinesis to making Carlos see dancing pink elephants...again. The Spirit of Chaos looked at the Irken. "Sooo...you and Panny, eh?"

"That's none of your business." The Caterpillar seemed to adjust the folds of his coiled body to block Paneece from Carlos' sight.

"Oh relax, if I wanted to go on a killing rampage with you lot I'd have done it after I got this body," Carlos picked at his teeth using one claw tip. "Besides, when I fused with Rik you could say I borrowed a few characteristics."

"I wouldn't know, there's so much chaos energy in you it's like having the galaxy's worst satellite signal," The Caterpillar adjusted one of his monocles.

"Well...let's say I used to like vanilla ice cream-you know what that is, right?"

"I spent years on Earth in my old world, so yes."

"Right! Let's say I liked vanilla, but when I possessed Rik my favourite flavour became...cotton candy or chocolate because that is his favourite." Carlos explained. "Or...say I liked the colour green the most before I fused with him, and he liked red. Let's just say I like red because he does. You get what I mean?"

"You mean that part of Rik has imprinted on you because you were fused to him in body and spirit?"

"He got it! Right on the money!" Carlos clapped his hands. "So as far as I'm concerned," He mimicked the southern accent Rik would use when n a humorous mood. "Y'all are pretty dang okay by my reckonin'!"

The Caterpillar allowed his grasp on Paneece to loosen as he slithered over and towered over Carlos. "And I am to take the word of a spirit that represents every single cause of death in the universe?"

"Ah ha! That's where you're wrong." Carlos wagged one finger. "Tell me...if somebody contracts a disease, did I have a hand in it? Possibly, it's been so long since my birth and my powers are rather...automated in terms of keeping chaos in the universe. But anyways...to be truthful it takes both chaos and order to bring death."

"...explain."

"The disease is the result of the endless potential of evolving organisms, given the ability to change and grow because of me. And they kill that person who contracts them because they are following a specific function, which is what Order causes. It is the _natural_ order. Viruses kill. Hell, I'm even affected y Order and vice versa. Do you know why? We're all like the universe's organs, that's why!"

Carlos suddenly flipped backwards without even pushing off of the ground and landed flat on both feet. "Do you know what my father, Sude, the Cornerstone of Light did to trigger life in this universe? He created me and my siblings by splitting himself into us."

"Are you...telling me about the creation of the universe?"

"This universe; I can't speak for yours." Carlos shook his head. "Now shut up and listen. He used Life to create, and me to give free will to what Life made. He used Death so people would not live forever, because despite how people think it's so good it really _sucks ASS._ I'm just glad that I can't remember a whole lot of my life. Heck, this feels like something a teacher read to me from a text book-"

"Get on with it."

"Moving along!" Carlos held two thumbs up. "Anyways he used Altruism and Cruelty as an extension of me, so people would be tested to do good or bad. It's a necessary evil, part of keeping balance in the universe. If one cog in a machine breaks, the whole thing does. Or if one vital organ breaks down, you can bet your ass the rest will follow. You can't have your cake and eat it and that is practically the very basis for creation. To have something good, you need something bad on the other end of the scales. Finally, as another extension of free will he made Body and World to represent greed and charity; looking out for number one and worrying about everybody but yourself."

He suddenly flipped backwards through the air without pushing off of the ground. He landed flat on both feet and held both arms out and angled up. "And voila, all of a sudden he had universal balance! There was a beginning and an end; a collar and a key to that collar; medicine and poison; and finally a view of the world and a mirror to admire yourself in. Everything else that stemmed from those eight weren't given form. The rest of the universe works like a brain: it fills itself in!"

He knelt. "Now, say there was no chaos at all. There'd be no life or evolution! There wouldn't progress or development; none of us would even exist today because the original species created would have died out so quickly! Imagine if I stopped doing my work say...when slavery was a big thing on Earth? Slavery was the norm in North America centuries ago, meaning it was part of Order. It changed because people had the ability to think for themselves and change it. If I stopped doing my job at that point it never would have changed no matter who was born or what was done. Nobody would notice how odd it is that slavery hadn't vanished because they wouldn't have the free will to have new thoughts! They'd be stuck inside a flask with whatever they already had at the time until it burned itself out!"

Carlos sighed...and at that moment The Caterpillar realized that the young man was glowing. Another moment passed and he realized that it was an illusion! Carlos...was leaning towards Paneece, gently stroking one of her antennae. The sleeping Irken shivered at the touch.

"That's the thing about the universe, or at least this one," He said. "It needs oxygen to live...well if you want to compare it to mortals who require oxygen that is. That's why this world is just so odd compared to ones like the universe you were born in." He looked at The Caterpillar, who was still too stunned by the revelations to move. "Your universe...may as well have been brain dead and on an eternal life support; just absorbing nutrients and crapping it back out again and again. This one...it s like a living, intelligent being on its own, and like every living being it needs a balance of muscle and fat, stress on the bones to form micro fractures and make them denser, and rest to recover."

He reappeared several more feet away, displaying what The Caterpillar believed was a sort of personal teleportation. "It needs it so it can grow strong and live a long time...or in this case live on and on into eternity."

Sighing theatrically, he brushed some hair out of his face. "So you see Caterpillar, I'm not the source of everything bad in this universe...I'm just the source of everything new. Whether it's good or bad is out of my jurisdiction after it decides for itself. So to answer your question..."

"**Yes, **you should take my word." Carlos patted The Caterpillar's head, seeming to free him from his trancelike state. "Besides, I don't sort these things out in my head and decide whether Hitler is born or if your race gets destroyed. It just happens...that's what free will is all about." He leaned back. "So please...be thankful, because without me that girl you're holding and the smeet in her wouldn't exist."

The Caterpillar's gaze shot to the sleeping Paneece. "Wait, she's really-"

"Pregnant? Now she is," Carlos nodded. "I did you a solid as a sign of good favour. That virus in you rather...suppressed your fertility instead of destroying it. So just this once I tipped the balance ever so slightly...and let you have your smeet on the first try; and I even accelerated its growth just enough for it to develop its own soul." He patted The Caterpillar's shoulder. "Everybody gets one my fine wormy friend!"

He walked off, whistling a merry tune as The Caterpillar transferred Paneece to his arms. He felt a small spark of a presence that had not been there before...

A smeet was growing inside of Paneece; a smeet that had been waited on for so long...

_Thud_

The room shook a bit. All of the companions jumped to their feet in surprise and looked around with growing concern for the stability of the room.

Envon looked up. "...I think that's the Armada!"

"Indeed it is, indeed it is...and they have friends." Envon was startled by the new speaker...the Keeper-The Being who had shown Rikalo to the Stone of Chaos. The cloaked individual now stood at the main doors of the Containment Chamber.

"And my time here is now over," The Keeper continued as the lights flickered. "Chaos has been released...all eight are now free." As segments of the ceiling collapsed, he slowly reached up for his hood. "So long...so very long we have been guarding this temple..."

Though the rising clouds of dust blocked the Keeper from sight, Rik felt its eyes on him as he gently tugged De back towards the others away from a pillar that was cracking. "And you Rikalo...you have now been placed in the affairs of the Cornerstone of Light and his children...as you were intended to be."

"Wait...you were waiting for me to come here?" Rik shouted at the Keeper. "Tell me why! Why am I so important?"

The Keeper laughed. "Oh Rikalo that's the irony. You're not special in any way, yet at the same time you are infinitely more important than any other Irken born, save for one who shares your status and curse."

"Stop talking riddles and tell me! What are you telling me to do?" Rik felt De now struggling to pull him towards the others. But he wanted answers! He struggled, but Envon and Drosco helped to take him away from the falling debris that was slowly piling up around the Keeper, who seemed to ignore the danger entirely.

"...exactly what _he_ would have done."

"Who?"

"...your father."

Then a hole was blown in the roof, letting in day light. In a brief moment before a large amount of rocks landed on top of him, the Keeper's cloak crumpled in on itself as the form beneath it vanished. Then it was gone completely.

The room no longer shook. Whatever had caused the tremors had stopped, and if Rik had to take a guess then he would wager that the castle above had been entirely demolished in order to dig down to this chamber. Several forms leaped down through the hole, wearing armour and slowed in their descent by thrusters built onto the legs and back of their suits.

The soldiers landed, facing the gathered companions. Several turned towards the main doors-which had been miraculously left unblocked by the giant fragments of ceiling that had fallen, just as Skullene, Grim, Skoodge, The Monarch, Tenn and Rine stepped through with the unconscious form of Tallest Miyuki.

"...who are you?" Envon asked, taking charge as he stood up to his full height.

One of the soldiers took off the helmet he wore. Pushing his messy red hair back, Kurt Malcolm tucked the helmet under one arm.

"I'd be Sergeant Kurt Malcolm," The human replied. "Would you be Tallest Blue?"

"...would you be from Earth?" Gaz spoke up.

The human soldiers looked at Gaz and began to mutter amongst themselves. Kurt shook off his surprise at seeing her and nodded. "Yes, we found your courier ship...we were surprised to learn there were friendly Irkens in the galaxy."

"We have wounded here," Grim spoke up, gesturing to Miyuki. "Do you have a medic?"

"Better, we have a mobile hospital ship waiting for you." Kurt replied. "You might want to call off your armada. Only the presence of your unharmed courier ship and the word of its captain has kept them from blasting our fleet out of space. As much as I hate to admit it we don't exactly stand a chance against ten thousand Irken battleships."

"Well I'll be...they really sent the whole armada here." Envon chuckled. "Sergeant...take me to your leader."

Xxx

End of chapter!

And I only have a few things to wrap up in the next chapter...

Rik has a father? And an apparent destiny to fulfill? The humans save the day? Will they remember that Zim is the one who almost destroyed their race? Why did they react to Gaz like that?


	37. Reunions

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

_**Originally I planned a lemon for this...and never got around to it. So sorry!**_

Xxx

_**So...everybody was saved...and the humans come to save the day. Wonderful, isn't it? Yes...if it were the true end. This is barely the first step...the climax of Rik's story has not been reached; not even close.**_

_**So enjoy it while it lasts. Please do...**_

_**I know that I will.**_

_**Oh, and the watcher I mentioned...the one at the end of Chapter Twenty Three...still has not appeared yet...but he will...I won't say how or when.**_

Xxx

Gaz was separated from the rest of the group and brought to an office that was brightly lit. Zim was next to her both because he had argued with the guards and because she had demanded that he be brought along. She still had not forgiven the Irken, but she felt better with a familiar face by her side. They sat side by side, waiting for whatever they had been called away for.

"Maybe they intend to interrogate you for knowledge of the technology in your body." Zim suggested.

"Heh, they can have it if they want, I don't need it." Gaz had to admit that the glowing plasma blades were cool though. They reminded her of the Vampire Piggy video games she played when she was younger...games she would not likely be playing again. "You can relax; these guys are all friendly with that Blue guy you work for so we've got nothing to worry about."

"But what if they know who Zim is? You remember what Zim did to your mud ball of a world!" Zim whispered urgently.

"Yeah, and if humans are as ignorant now as they were back then, then they'll just think that you're another generic idiotic Irken...oh wait, you are." Gaz smirked.

"This is no game Gaz!" Zim raised his voice. "I could die here!"

"...If I promise to keep that from happening will you stop your bitching?" She asked.

"Huh? Are you...offering to be Zim's bodyguard again?"

"...I want payment," Gaz smirked.

"Crafty she-devil!"

Suddenly the door slid open behind them. They both turned as a man stepped in. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, but they had managed to find out during a brief tour of the ship that the average human life span had been increased to well over a hundred...a person in his forties or fifties could easily pass as one in his thirties. He had stubble forming on his chin and a five oh clock shadow-he hadn't shaved obviously. His eyes were an amber colour similar to Gaz's, but they had an odd appearance to them...it was something about the surface of the eyes themselves. And his hair was black and stuck up in a familiar scythe like shape...

"D-Dib?" Gaz was so startled by the man's appearance that she was unable to react when he suddenly rushed into the room...and punched Zim right in the face.

"Bastard!" He snarled. "Stay away from her!"

Zim was thrown to the floor, and Dib immediately turned to Gaz. He collected her in a tight embrace, one hand rubbing the back of her head gently...

"Gaz...My god I...it's really you!" Dib Membrane whispered, shaking as he hugged his younger sibling.

"Dib..." Gaz looked up at her brother. You're...older." That was a dumb thing to say, but it was all she could think of right now.

He smiled, wiping away the tears that were trickling from his eyes. "Give it a few decades and you'll look this old too, Gaz." He looked her over. "What did he do to you? Where did you get all of this Irken equipment from?"

"Zim gave it to me," Gaz replied, numbness spreading over her as her mind seemed to drift away. Dib...her brother looked so different, yet he also was so much the same as he had been before. She didn't know how to put it into words, but his very presence momentarily made her feel like she was still just twelve years old and back on Earth where she would beat up kids who annoyed her and play video games all day long...

"And when we're done with him he'll wish he was never born!" Dib rounded on Zim, who was getting up. "Son of a bitch, you're gonna pay for everything you did to my planet! Guards!"

Gaz leaped out of her chair as two guards entered. She stood in front of Zim. "Dib, stop."

"Gaz, what are you doing? Get out of the way, Zim is a war criminal and the entire human race wants his head on a platter." Dib's glared pierced holes through the frightened Irken who was hiding behind Gaz. "And I'm going to deliver them just that for all of the people he killed!"

"...you're not going to kill or hurt Zim, Dib." Gaz said firmly. "If you try...I swear I'll kick your ass just like I always used to. Things have changed a lot Dib...I've changed...Zim has changed. And a lot of Irkens are going to need him alive and unharmed."

"...why are you defending him?" Dib sounded defeated as he looked pleadingly at his sister. "He kidnapped you...you missed out on decades of your life!"

"I know...and he also gave me one hell of a reality check." Gaz nodded. "Now...we're going to talk like normal people Dib..." She relaxed her stance. "...and you are going to give me another hug right now."

Until a minute ago Dib had not hugged Gaz since she had threatened to break his arms when she was five. When she suddenly threw herself against him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, he was so stunned that he momentarily forgot about Zim.

Then the two long lost siblings held one another; reunited at long last.

Xxx

_Two of light, both in dark_

_Two of sin, both broken_

_Two of a pair bears death's mark_

_Two of a pair with old lives forsaken_

_Two in one, shadow undone_

_Two in one, vengeance lifted_

_Two in one, battle won_

_Two in one, destiny shifted_

_Two in one, enemy and friend_

_Two in one, one must end_

The Caterpillar had written down his prophecy after he remembered it. After all that had happened it seemed so long ago that he had received it. Had the Cornerstone of Light truly sent him a message? If so he was beginning to interpret its meaning already...

"She's waking up!" Paneece shook his arm like a child trying to get a parent's attention. The Caterpillar looked to the source of her mood: Miyuki. The Tallest was lying in a bed, covered from the neck down by white sheets. Her tail stretched off of the bed and to the opposite wall, but several humans had come in and literally bolted restraints to the floor to keep Miyuki from moving her tail-all at Grim's insistence. Even if the Cruelty Stone was gone he would not run the risk of Miyuki attacking them again.

Despite Miyuki being his mother in one universe, The Caterpillar had already confirmed that he and Paneece had no biological relation to him-thankfully enough. Until he had been given details about the Renaissance Project used to create Paneece he had thought she was a random smeet this Miyuki had picked. When he found out that she was actually Miyuki's true child-one of five rather than a smeet embryo given a small amount of her DNA he had felt nauseous at the thought that he had slept with his own sister. The relief that came when he found out they shared no similar DNA was for the smeet that would have been more likely to develop a birth defect.

It also made it easier to face Miyuki.

The former Tallest stirred, her sky blue eyes beginning to flutter open. She was met with the sight of Envon, Grimrair, Skullene, Paneece and Rine gathered around her. The Life Stone in her right hand was glowing like a beacon now. For a moment she mumbled and looked to each face that stared down at her. Slowly, as she saw the blue eyes of each she began to realize...

"My...my babies...?"

Envon nodded, holding one of Miyuki's hands in both of his. "Yeah maneeme, it's us." He let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob.

Paneece sniffed; she had wanted to pull Miyuki into a hug ever since she had realized who it was that Grim and Skullene were dragging with them. Despite her severely mutated form she was still her mother.

"Why...why can't I move?" Miyuki's eyes shot open, full of panic as she looked down at herself. She saw the tail stretching out from under the bed and screamed. She tried sitting up, and Grim was with her in the blink of an eye. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and gently eased her back down as she whimpered and shook.

"It's alright, it's alright," He assured her. "Shadow did something to you. Tallest Shadow, do you remember him?"

"I-I yes!" Miyuki squeaked, nodding her head quickly.

"It'll be alright," Paneece helped Grim to lay Miyuki back down. "We just had to be sure that you weren't under his control still."

"I...It's coming back to me now," Miyuki whispered, relaxing a bit. "I...I was on the research station over Vort...and Zim-"

"We know," Envon said abruptly. "And...Somehow Shadow got you out of that thing that ate you."

"You told us that it had to do with this, Life." Skullene lifted up Miyuki's right hand so she could see it. The Life Stone glimmered in the light of the infirmary. Already Grim was untying the restraints keeping Miyuki's tail stretched out straight. "And that another stone, Cruelty was keeping you under his control and making you fight us."

"I don't remember that..." Miyuki groaned. "Oh god everything hurts..."

"...you're malnourished," Grim said. "According to the doctors you're somehow regaining mass that has been already consumed by your body. I'd bet my PAK that it's that stone on your hand. It's called Life and you should be dead of starvation or too weak to even move. It's recycling everything it can to keep you alive."

"Which is why you need to be fed," The Caterpillar said gently, his voice carrying a telepathic message to soothe Miyuki. "The Armada is transporting medical supplies, including some fluids we can feed you without the risk of burning through you."

"Armada...?" When Miyuki thought of that word she pictured the same fleet she had been pulling away from conquest in favour of merely defending the empire.

"Not the Empire's...my armada," Envon said.

"Envon...?" Miyuki noticed that her eldest son was now...taller than her! "You're...Tallest?"

"Tallest Blue," Envon replied with a small, shy smile.

"Your father would be so proud..." Miyuki said. "You look just like him...you just have my eyes."

She raised one hand as Envon knelt down so he was closer to her. She gently caressed the side of his face before noticing the Life Stone embedded into her hand again. "..."

"For the record, yes, that is what's keeping you alive."

"CARLOS!" All five Irkens standing over Miyuki shouted, glaring in the direction of the Chaos Human.

"Ey-yoooo!" Carlos, sitting cross legged on a table by the door-and seeming weightless since the small table hadn't crumpled under him waved one hand. He had a big toothy grin on his face and was holding a small see through pack of fluid... "I picked this up from one of your medical ships," He waved the packet of feeding fluid over his head. "Good thing I was absorbed by another Irken or I wouldn't have known where the hell I was going or what I was looking for! I've got plenty more too!"

"What? You were on one of my ships?" Envon demanded.

"Five or six...thousand," Carlos replied. "I stayed to admire the view a few had of the planet." He tossed the packet to Envon. "So get to it boy! Your mommy there is carrying my dearest sister Life in her!"

"So this thing...is just like you then?" Envon looked at the stone.

"Yep!" Carlos held up his own hand, and the Chaos Stone slid out of the flesh as though it was made of water. "These stones are what you call our true bodies. Life there is too kind to take a body by force, but with her fighting Cruelty's influence your mommy there managed to stay at least a little bit free...at least that's what Life is saying. All those pretty lights she's making are like an angry rant to me. She's annoyed at me for taking Rikalo's body and modifying it so much."

He shrugged. "I don't see the big deal, now Rik has a body of his own that doesn't have that terrible damage done by all that alcohol and cigarettes Rik used to take. Seriously, the guy must have been off them for days and I'll still be hacking up ashes by next month." He pressed his hand against his nose to close one nostril and blew a wad of ashes out of the other nostril.

Paneece was already hooking up the pack of Miyuki's currently inoperative IV. The fluid began to flow through tubes and into Miyuki.

"Now say Miyuki asked her to fuse with her, or if she let a willing host take the Life Stone then I'd be able to meet my lovely sister again!...but she'll kick my ass if I take the stone from Miyuki and kill her." Carlos sighed. "And thus I am stuck here waiting for either one to happen once Miyuki doesn't need a mystic life support anymore-"

The door slid open, and one very annoyed Kurt Malcolm stormed in and grabbed Carlos by the back of his coat. "You! You're supposed to be in the brig!"

"Aw no, the fuzz caught me!" Carlos whined as he was dragged off the table and out of the room. "Riot! RIIIOOTTTT! You all suck! Free the Carlos! Free the Carlos..." His voice faded away as the door shut.

"...if that's the guy who is the source of all chaos in the universe, I'm suddenly afraid of everything now." Paneece growled.

"He told me that he doesn't have specific control over everything about it, he just...balances it." The Caterpillar said. "So don't worry, he can't cause us any harm unless he does it directly."

"That's such a comfort," Paneece sighed, sitting by her mother again and taking her hand. "At least he answered some questions and brought you some feed Maneeme...maneeme?" She looked at Miyuki...

She was sleeping.

"...this feed is the type laced with a sedative for keeping patients asleep," Envon observed the bag. "It's probably for the best." He leaned down and kissed Miyuki's forehead. "She has quite the recovery to go through."

Xxx

Tak had been sitting in a waiting room with BlackJack and Janie ever since the humans had 'rescued' them. They had not been harmed, and they had even been given food and some basic comforts. But Tak was furious that she had allowed herself to be captured by such primitive creatures. Only one of them was supposed to be smart enough and obsessed enough with aliens to come out this far...

The thought of him and the result of meeting him made Tak's Squeedlyspooch ache.

The door opened, and a familiar sight stepped in. Black hair, blue eyes, green skin...

"...mom?" Kronos' voice attracted the attention of BlackJack and Janie.

"What?" BlackJack looked between them.

"...Kronos." Tak swallowed. "...dewo smeet."

"B-but how? He's a..." Janie looked at Tak. "But you're part of Red's Empire, if you had...with another race you'd be..."

"Nobody ever knew," Kronos said. "Nobody..."

Suddenly he had teleported to Tak and was hugging her. She returned the gesture, embracing her son.

"You're all free to go," Rik stepped into the door frame. "The Omni-Hunter's in the nearest hangar if you want to catch some sleep."

"Rikalo you bastard, we've been here for hours! If you were off mooching with De I'm gonna-" BlackJack grumbled. "...ah hell I'm guessing we won."

"Indeed we did." Rik nodded.

"Good on yah then, let's go!" BlackJack said, pulling Janie up and leaving the room with her. Rik whistled casually as he followed them, leaving Kronos and Tak to their reunion.

"Mom...dad's here too. I saw him earlier," Kronos whispered. "And he's trying to kill Zim."

That made Tak's relaxed mood break entirely. She swallowed at the thought of seeing Dib again after so long...considering that she had not seen him since a little after Kronos had been born. And with him leading Earth in its development Kronos barely managed to visit more than four or five times every decade. And now he and Zim were on the same ship...

Tak forced a smile. "Let's leave them alone for a while then...I want to just talk with you for a bit and leave those two idiots alone."

"My thoughts exactly." Kronos nodded.

Xxx

"He murdered over a billion innocent people." Dib pointed at Zim.

"I need him to keep a population of a hundred-ninety eight billion from dropping to half within the next decade." Envon replied firmly, having taken time away from his mother to speak with Dib, who seemed to be the leader of the human fleet.

"He's done something that classifies him as a war criminal!"

"And he can make up for it instead of getting a bullet between his eyes," Envon crossed his arms, standing between Dib and his target. Gaz stood by Zim, just in case things got more violent. "We're fighting a war here, and Red has an armada three times the size of my own. Shadow has a military _four_ times as big as mine on average. That whole armada out there...can you imagine something that large showing up on your door step one day? How many ships does your race have anyways, a few hundred?"

"We have plenty of big guns to deal with anything that comes near our planets," Dib argued.

"Not against an Irken Armada," Envon replied.

"I've seen Irken soldiers, they practically walk out and ask to be shot. If they tried invading human planets they'd need armies five or six times of the whole human race to win."

"Red's soldiers may be a dime a dozen and trained to be fodder for elite soldiers but Shadow Irkens are just as experienced as my own armies where it comes to fighting off new enemies." Envon placed his hands on the edge of Dib's desk. "So if you want to stop that from happening one day-and it will then you'll let Zim help my empire grow. One day...when this is all over you can have a trial, but I won't promise a death sentence."

Dib glared at Zim one more time. "...Fine, but I'm counting the days until that happens."

He sat back down behind his desk. "Your Captain told me that you wished to form an alliance with my people."

"Correct, and I think that considering my previous points it would be beneficial to both your people and mine." Envon sat across from him; Zim and Gaz relaxed behind him. "Can you represent your people in negotiations?"

"It'll take weeks to draw up an official treaty, but I can have it done." Dib replied.

"Good. Now Zim, Gaz I think you two can go," Envon glanced at them. "The others are recovering; you should keep an eye on them and be ready to help."

Xxx

But of course after leaving the office they instead went to an abandoned observation post-using a map Zim had made by hacking the noncritical systems of the human ship. The more important features like life support, weapons and engines were nearly impenetrable from what he could tell.

"Why did you protect Zim so much?" Zim asked while sitting next to Gaz. She had grabbed a drink from what seemed to be a vending machine that produced refreshments which were essentially flavoured water...which somehow had been made to taste like her favourite fruit drink back on Earth.

"I need somebody to get all of this crap detached from me and about twenty or thirty machines out of my body." Gaz replied. "That's all."

"Any human could do it! Zim had originally designed you to be expendable, so he had not bothered with safe guards against manually removing your synthetic implants." Zim insisted.

"You know that doesn't make me want to keep you alive, right?" Gaz opened one eye and glared at him from out of the corner of it. "Look, Zim, you're convenient to me and that is all that's stopped me from letting my brother put a bullet through your skull."

Zim did not pursue the topic further, but he and Gaz both suspected that this was not the end of their discussion.

Xxx

"Where are we going?" De whispered with her face pressed to Rik's throat as they lay side by side in bed. De's injuries were surprisingly light and minor compared to the others who had been caught up in the fighting and Rik's new body was mostly unharmed. She had found it disturbing that this was not the same body Rik had been born with, or the one she had kissed and slept with for years...

But this Rik was her Rik, and nothing could replace that.

"To Earth," Rik replied. "That's what the humans call their home world. Envon will let us go our own way after we're all better." He kissed her forehead. "I was thinking we could maybe go and find Ouri and Fren. I know they're both still alright."

De nodded. "Fren is working for an agricultural corporation over on one of Envon's outer colonies. The last I heard from Ouri he was going to look for you, but he stopped somewhere around the same place Fren works at. I think he's visiting."

"Well won't they be in for a surprise then?" Rik teased, rubbing De's back gently. "We'll all be back together after this De. One big," He kissed her, "Happy family."

"It's been years since I heard anybody talk about me being in one of those," De giggled softly. "...but you're working for Envon now, aren't you?"

"I don't intend to be going out on suicide missions every day...but yes, I'm going to take his offer and work for him." Rik nodded. "Red and Shadow made me their enemy today after all the bull crap they've put me through. I should have helped Skullene or Envon kill off Red and Purple years ago...and I should have stuck by Lok so he wouldn't have wound up becoming what we saw."

"To think...Lok is Shadow...it seems impossible but I saw him." De rolled over onto her back. "He looked so...twisted. It was like somebody drew some disgusting parody of the real Lok. He used to be so happy...so caring."

"If you're upset then Loe and Kay will be devastated," Rik sighed. "Kay especially...it ain't easy to hear that your own father went and turned into Tallest Shadow trying to find you."

De gasped and looked at him with a distressed expression. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"No, I don't have the right to do that," Rik shook his head. "I'll leave that up to somebody else closer to her, but I don't want her kept in the dark about it. She has the right to know her father is alive. Maybe she could even crack through that thick skull of his and pull the real Lok out a little longer...Drosco should tell her." He added the last part as an afterthought.

De nodded. "He was Lok's mate, right? He's like another parent to Kay then...yes; he should tell her...I think he'd want that." She snuggled against Rik's chest. "It feels so weird...this even smells like your old body...it feels like it too."

"I'm still pissed at Carlos for takin' mine without my permission," Rik grumbled. "I feel like a parasite in this."

"Sh..." De placed a fingertip on his lips. "Rik, we have another chance most people wouldn't have after so much danger. I say we just take it and stop complaining."

"...I can agree to that." Rik kissed her again, and this time neither of them pulled back. De wrapped her arms around his neck and arched her back a bit as she felt his own go around her waist. One hand rubbed a hip and she squirmed a bit. Being so close to her husband after so long was like being with him for the first time all over again. She had a feeling of nervous anticipation in her gut and she was trembling through her whole body.

"Rik..."

"I know darlin'," Rik said. "This is just one more thing I missed for so long."

De purred as she felt his hands rub circles on her flesh, sliding up under the thin shirt she wore. His fingers tickled her as they played their way up past her stomach and drew a giggle from her. Rik positioned himself over her and leaned down for a kiss.

"I love you Rik."

"I love you, darlin'."

Xxx

"...that was mommy who yelled at you?"

"Yes, my sweet." Shadow sighed, his head resting against the glass next to him as he cradled a small form in his lap.

"Why was mommy so mad at you?"

"...because mommy and I have very different opinions," Shadow shut his eyes. "And...It was my fault that mommy got mad at me, my sweet."

"...will I ever get to meet mommy?"

"You shall, yes." Shadow nodded, and glanced down at his lap. "Mommy will love you so much...Hunter."

The black eyed smeet in his lap smiled, and the shadows seemed to draw closer to him. The outline of Tallest Shadow's figure against the seat under and behind him vanished. It travelled across him like liquid and moved under the smeet. Underneath him there were so many shadows drawn to his own that it was icy cold and without any form of light or warmth. But Shadow did not notice this; to him his son was as beautiful as Drosco.

His antennae had the same exotic shape and his skin colour was not deathly pale like Shadow's was. He had been created in a smeetery by a combination of Shadow's DNA mixed with Drosco's-gathered discreetly. He had been too afraid to confront his mate directly as he was, but had wanted something to remember him by...

So he created the creature that was the nightmare of any who saw it. Now it looked harmless and innocent, and indeed it was until it used its powers.

"And we'll see Drosco very soon, my sweet." Shadow began to gently rock Hunter to sleep. He looked up at the top of his throne room to the starry night. "Then we can be one big happy family. You, he and I...one big happy family with an empire to serve us." He kissed hunter's forehead. "Do you like that?"

"Uh huh..." Hunter yawned and curled up in Shadow's arms. As the Tallest looked down at his son for another brief instance the true Lok could be seen...

Then it was gone, replaced by Shadow once more.

"Sleep, my sweet..." The Tallest cooed. "Sleep..." And in his dreams Hunter's 'shadows' would travel across light years to destroy Shadow's enemies.

All except Drosco and his new friends...he would leave them be for now.

Xxx

"I can't just turn my back on my leader, Kronos." Tak reasoned as she and her son sat across from one another. Tak had been let out of the room as long as she remained with Kronos at all times. Dib had yet to see her, and she was glad for that.

"But mom, Red's empire demands so much! In a few years they might kill you for some dumb reason like they do every single other Irken that dies there!" Kronos pleaded. "Look at Blue's Irkens; they all get along great despite being what Red calls 'defective'. They're even better!"

"Kronos, stop it." Tak's voice was firm, and it made Kronos feel like a child again. "I am not going to debate my loyalties with you. I don't fault you for hating my leader but what one sees as evil others see as nature. Red wasn't this bad before Purple was murdered, and we have Tallest blue to thank for that now don't we?"

Kronos sighed. "Mom...I'm just worried for you."

Tak reached out and gently took her son's hand. "I know Kronos...but being a soldier means always being at risk; even if it is from those you may call allies. I spent so many years destroying...I'm glad I at least brought something amazing as you into this world." She rubbed the hybrid's head, ruffling his black hair. "But my decision stands...I won't betray Red."

"You're just as stubborn as ever then," Tak gasped as a form suddenly sat down next to her. She looked up at the taller human.

"D-Dib!" He had grown so much ever since she had given birth to Kronos, but he looked a lot better than most humans his age did-if not exhausted and pale a bit.

"Long time no see, Tak." Dib nodded, setting down a cup of coffee. "I had a talk with Tallest En-" He paused. "Blue, he's actually likable for a Tallest."

"Are you trying to talk me over also?"

"Nope, just saying." Dib shrugged.

"And you and Zim didn't kill one another?" Tak was genuinely surprised.

"Gaz and Blue made a very convincing argument." Dib nodded. "I can't tell you anything about it if you're going to go back to work for Red."

Silence was cast over the reunited family. Their reunion was more somber than they would have wished.

"Tak...why did you go after Kronos was born?" Dib asked after a minute of mute drinking. "Why go back to Red after all his empire did to you? They turned you into some garbage cleaner just because you missed a test."

"I'm now a respected Captain, I'll have you know." Tak replied coldly.

"Meaning you'll just be interrogated for information," Dib countered.

"Well great," She set her drink down and glared at him. "Then I can tell them how you florped-wait no, as you humans call it...you _fucked_ an Irken and made a hybrid."

Kronos sighed sadly. "My crazy parents."

Xxx

"I'll see you soon, love." Janie said to her husband before they ended their conversation.

It had been so long since she had been with Velrik. It had felt like years when it had only been under a few weeks from what she could tell. She lied back on the bed provided to her and put away the communicator she had been speaking to Velrik through.

She was glad to speak to him again; it brought her a comforting sense of familiarity. She needed it after all of this...after having seen Rik so much. She shut her eyes as she remembered the last view of Rik she had: arm in arm with De Rien and walking off with an uncharacteristically warm smile. She felt that pang of jealousy again, and then thought back to the two children she and Rik had conceived. Lania and Rimak hadn't seen their father more than once or twice...

She hoped that Rik would not forget about them either when he started his new family.

Xxx

"Look, for the fiftieth time the medical ward is off limits!" the security guard growled, flicking off the safety of the plasma rifle he held as he faced down the Irken.

"My family is in there and I'm not letting some meat sack in shiny armor stop me from seeing them," The red eyed Irken growled. "I just came a long way and I'm feeling hungry...I'd prefer to eat after I meet my family but with how you act I might just eat _you_ now."

"Is that a threat you overgrown bug-"

"Jackson, stow it!" A second security guard in matching armour hissed. "Uh...sir, who do you wish to see?"

"There...much better." The Irken smiled, revealing bloodstained teeth and then told them who he wanted to see. They led him down the corridor-other humans moving aside quickly upon seeing the Irken. They opened the door.

"I said we are to be left alone!" Grimrair began to turn towards the door, but stopped as he opened his mouth again.

"...is that any way to greet your little brother?" Invader Hellion asked innocently with his arms spread. "How's about a hug, Grimmy? I heard maneeme is back and I just _had _to see for myself." Something about how the infamous cannibalistic ex-Invader spoke was off putting-more so than usual. It was so...calm.

"So hows about it, brother?" Hellion continued. "Let's have a full family reunion."

Xxx

End of chapter!

One more chapter to go! It will kind of wrap things up and then we'll be set for a sequel!


	38. Epilogue

Masked Contritence

I don't own Serenity, Deathstalker, Andromeda, or IZ.

I don't think I need a characters list anymore, you know them all by now.

I'd like to personally thank ngrey651 and MetalCoffeCup (Or as you all might know her: CynderBark) for their assistance.

_**RATED FOR FILLER LEMON**_

Xxx

Rik's shirt was off, and his pants soon joined it on the floor. De was exploring every inch of his new body with her hands. It was missing some of the cars he had on his old body, but it also had some he hadn't had before. Rik had gotten rid of De's shirt already and was tenderly sliding his hands up her sides. He paused as he reached her ribs and she winced a bit. "Are you oaky?"

"I-I think one rib is cracked, but aside from that I'm fine." She promised, kissing his chin. "Keep going Rik, please."

Rik's hands travelled back down to her waist. De had only been wearing a thin shirt and some loose pants provided by the humans after all of her injuries were tended to. Rik wore a similar outfit-or he had moments ago. His hands slowly guided the material down De's legs and off of her, leaving the two of them completely exposed. De shivered a bit; the room was cold, and Rik's arms around her felt searing hot in comparison.

De found herself reliving the first time she had been with Rik decades ago. She had been a lot more nervous back then mostly because she hadn't exactly been sexually active before then. But she knew Rik now...

And she wanted more.

Rik's hands were gently exploring De, carrying that same heat with them. De shut her eyes and relaxed in his grasp; she looped her arms around his neck and kissed him again as they lined themselves up with one another. De gasped as she felt an amount of pain followed by a slowly growing sense of warmth and pleasure. She moaned softly, her fingers digging into Rik's back a bit as she adjusted to his presence. She hadn't been with anybody since Rik had left...it took some getting used to again.

"Ah...so long..." De gasped.

"About four decades, give or take a few years." Rik nodded, stroking De Rien's antennae back. "Are you still feelin' alright?"

De giggled softly. "I'm not so fragile Rik," She leaned up and kissed him. "I love you."

Rik gently began to ease himself back out of De, and then moved his hips forward to meet her. She moaned again, her face flushed a dark green as she covered Rik's lips with her own.

Xxx

Gary sat in his assigned quarters...more like he floated several inches off of the bed. His eyes were closed until he heard the doors opening...three seconds before Tallest Envon himself had actually opened them.

"You wished to speak with me, Tallest Envon?" He asked without looking at the Irken.

"Yes...but of course you'd know that already, wouldn't you?" Envon leaned against the wall next to the door with his arms loosely crossed. It was odd to see somebody with the crest of a Tallest in a casual position.

"Usually I would, but you have trained your mind so that I cannot receive an accurate reading from any scan of your thoughts." Gary replied and shut his eyes again. "Why have you come?"

"I'd like to ask a few questions."

"Ask away."

"...what do you intend to do from this point on?"

"...my first day of awareness involved me fighting a Tallest and helping another Tallest simply because minor thoughts and traces of emotion from the Meekroobian scientists who made me, the Irkens who held me captive and your own comrades formulated an opinion for me." Gary drawled. "I doubt there's any other answer besides fighting for your empire. That is what has become my goal without my permission."

"You're not a computer; you don't have to follow any goal you form from the thoughts of people nearby." Envon said.

"What else is there for me to do then? Become a mercenary like Rikalo? Join the Sheyi as an emotional healer and giver of pleasure? I would excel at either."

"...why not rebuild?"

"I have no culture or home to speak of. And even if the Meekroobians were alive...I doubt they would accept me."

"They are alive though," Envon's words were so simple...yet they startled Gary so much that several nearby objects floated up before he controlled his telekinetic powers. He sat up; having accidently lowered himself to the bed and stared at the Tallest intensely.

"What?"

"After Tenn destroyed Meekroob, the Tallest dispatched fleets to destroy survivors...however I was the first on the scene and already planning my coup." Envon said. "I felt having Meekroobians as friends would be a boon. Few trusted me, but those who did..." He set a small data card on the bed. "This has the coordinates of the colony they have constructed in the outer rim of this galaxy. Feel free to visit them...and give them hope."

"...why?"

"Pardon?"

"Why are you so different?" Gary asked. "Why are you, a Tallest so...kind?"

"Not all Irkens are evil."

"But you were raised and trained to hate other species."

"Wrong...I was trained to kill them. But...the one who had the honor of raising me is resting in a hospital bed several dozen feet away." Envon replied. "And she had more of an effect on me than any Cold Unfeeling Robot Arm ever will." He turned and opened the door. "That's all that's needed to be good...you need to be able to choose it for yourself. I had the choice...and I took it after I thought I lose something more important to me than being an Admiral."

He stepped out. "You can take one of my ships to the colony if you wish. The Meekroobians are more open to Irken ships so long as they bear my mark...I think they really will be happy to see you."

And then he shut the door behind him.

Xxx

De Rien whimpered a bit with each time Rik pressed into her. She moved her hips up to meet his strokes and clutched tightly at the sheets on either side of her before ripping through the material. She felt herself being lifted by her thighs and whined as she looped her arms back around Rik's neck. She now had to move herself down to meet Rik's shaft and fulfill the animalistic mating urge that had overcome her.

"Riiiik..." She moaned as she felt a sense of warmth gathered in her core growing larger. She began to pant a bit as their movements sped up.

Xxx

"How the hell did you convert an Irken body into...this?" Dib demanded as he and several other officers examined Carlos, who had his feet propped up on a table and was leaning back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head while whistling a tune.

"Well it's a very simple thing when you think about it," Carlos said. "In the end every species has one origin: the big bang, a sudden burst of energy that created everything. I simply...momentarily reversed Rikky's body's development until it was just energy and reshaped it to fit my own needs. If I was a half second too slow I could have blown half of the universe away but...worth it!"

"You could have destroyed this whole galaxy? And hundreds more? All for turning into a human?" Dib demanded.

"Uuuuh Comrade Big Head? It was a joke," Carlos said. "The worst I could have done was make this body explode with the force of maybe...one...hundred sticks of TNT but seeing as none of that happened let's just move on, shall we?"

"Don't call me that," Dib demanded.

"What? Big Head? But look at it, its _huuuuge!_" Carlos waved his arms over his head. "In fact can I use that for a seat from now on?"

"I'm being serious here." Dib frowned at the young man. "You said that you are a..." He looked at his clip board. "Embodiment of chaos."

"Yep, _an_ embodiment of chaos," Carlos nodded. "The universe has more than one of us, we just...each have our own territory. Mine happens to make up about...eighty or ninety galaxies." He shrugged. "I lose count."

"You're the cause of wars and destruction then!" One officer accused Carlos.

"..." Carlos sighed and pulled some papers out of his coat while producing some spectacles from another pocket. "Okay, time to repeat the same speech I gave the Caterpillar then."

Xxx

The end was near. De couldn't hold on much longer. She mewled and writhed underneath Rik as her fingers dug into his back. To them this moment was to be drawn out for as long as possible. When they had been parted they had believed they would never see one another again, much less be this intimate.

Rik heard De gasp as her legs tightened around his waist. She let out a longing moan before she was nearly hyperventilating. "R-ri-Rik!" Rik felt her constrict all around him and reached his climax, emptying his seed into De Rien as she arched her back so he was pulled deeper into her.

Then they both began to slow down as Rik wilted inside of De. Rik turned them over so De was resting against his chest. He placed one hand on her back and the other on the back of her head. She had been sweating near the end a bit. She shut her eyes and groaned as Rik pulled out of her and let her rest her head on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled against him. "I love you Rik."

"I love you, De." There it was again; using 'De' instead of 'darlin''. Rik only used her real name either when he was very serious...he had been using it a lot as of late. Soon that old pet name he used by instinct would be gone.

De felt herself being lifted a bit, and then felt a fabric being placed over her as she was set back down. Rik slipped under the blanket and gathered her into his arms again. She rested one side of her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso. Only a few days ago she had been living out of some wrecked shack of a home on Purgatau in the worst of its districts. Now here she was back with her husband-right where she belonged as far as she was concerned.

Everything was righted now.

Xxx

Everything was wrong as far as Elay was concerned. She sat by Credaran's bed side as the human medical officer stepped out to give them a moment alone. Credaran's organs had been all but eviscerated by the blade of the monster which he had fought off. Tenn stood by Elay's side with a hand on the pilot's shoulder. Though she did not know Credaran she had heard of his actions from Elay and the rest of Rik's team.

To defeat one of Shadow's monstrosities on his own Credaran deserved far more than to die right as victory was achieved. But the Veniran was only holding on thanks to the life support system. In addition there was damage to his spinal cord-which was barely holding together now.

His ears twitched in their direction, and Credaran opened his eyes. "...I'm in a hospital, aren't I?"

"Yes..." Elay whispered. "It's bad, Cred...very bad."

"Are you harmed?" He tilted his head towards her.

"I-I'm fine." Elay shook her head and gently held one of Credaran's hands. "How are you?"

"Weak...I feel as weak as a pup." Credaran replied, but smiled. "However I am glad that you are alright, Elay. At least I managed to do some good in the end."

"You won't die Credaran!" Tenn assured him. "You're just...you're just really damaged is all, but we can help you!"

"...will I ever be able to fight alongside you all?" Credaran asked.

"Perhaps..." Though the human doctors were not too confident of that happening, and sadly Credaran could see this in Elay's uncertain gaze and hear it in her tone.

"...I will be crippled at best," He sighed. "I will be nothing of use to you, and an embarrassment to my own kind."

The Venirans might not be as cruel as the Irken Empire of old or as amoral as the Planet Jackers but they had expectations for a Veniran...one being that they had to be able to walk and fight on their own. Synthetic limbs were a no-go and to be crippled...was as good as giving a doctor's note every day for the rest of your life. If it was a severed limb you were given leniency but...to be simply paralyze as Credaran would most likely end up was humiliating. It meant that a blow that was not strong enough to kill you had made sure you could never take up arms to fight again.

"Elay...if that happens...if I can no longer stand on my own..." Credaran shut his eyes. "I won't ask you to put me out of my misery. But I cannot stand the idea of being stuck in a bed for the rest of my life with others working to keep me alive."

"You won't have to!" Elay scrambled for ideas, but even if he accepted synthetic limbs there was the matter of his spinal cord. "I-I don't-I..." She felt tears coming to her eyes as she tried desperately to think of something that would keep her friend and crewmate from taking his own life. Suicide was not frowned upon by the Veniran primary religion...so long as it was only done when one was crippled for the long term as Credaran might end up.

"Elay...my old friend," Credaran motioned her to lean in. He gently tugged one of her antennae down and spoke into it. "My family...on Venira Prime...I would like you to contact them on my personal communicator." He whispered the contact number to her. "Tallest Envon gave me permission to bounce the signal off of his own fleet's transmitters; it shall work."

"Okay...right." Elay wiped her tears away and picked up Credaran's communicator. She slid it onto his wrist and opened the device. She tapped in the contact code-adding the primary code for the Veniran Empire. She and Tenn stood by until an image was produced from the communicator.

"_This is Emperor Telaka Credaran, who am I-" _The Veniran who appeared-clad in armour with the royal crest of the Veniran Empire on it sputtered. _"Mevak! My son!"_

"Emperor?"

"Son?"

Credaran smiled. "Hello, father...it has been a long time."

Xxx

"Seriously...this is a little unnecessary," Panny insisted as she sat up in bed surrounded by the Caterpillar, the Monarch and several servants who had arrived from Settlement A1 with Envon's fleet. They were seeing to her every need despite her objection. "I'm barely two days pregnant by now."

"But Carlos accelerated the development!" The Caterpillar reminded her, holding one of her hands in both of his own. "We don't know if it might have only been enough for the smeet to register on scans or if it will constantly accelerate you right until the birth itself!"

"If the scan shows that our smeet isn't growing faster than an Irken during a molting season will you please let me actually walk?" Panny asked with an exasperated sigh and a glare.

"The results should be coming in at any moment now," Sergeant Malcolm-who had been assigned along with his entire squad to protect the HIE delegation assured Panny. He too found it uncomfortable that the Irkens were constantly rushing around, and he knew she must have felt embarrassed by how they treated her. It was like they thought she was suddenly too fragile for anything.

"Good," The Caterpillar nodded quickly.

"Darling," The Monarch spoke calmly yet loud enough for all of the occupants in the room to hear. "If Panny is pregnant, then having all of these servants in here is not a good thing for her. Let them at least wait outside until we are certain that they are needed."

"Yes, you are right, love." The Caterpillar faced the servants. "You may step outside for now. I shall recall you when you are needed." The Irkens shuffled out, but each stopped to make a brief prayer for Paneece to the Cornerstone of Light before leaving.

Panny relaxed and laid back down on the bed while they waited for the results to come in from the scan that had been performed on her earlier. The Irken doctor in charge was thankful for the peace, quiet and solitude-being that he was from the Blue Armada and found the attitude of the HIE Irkens to be annoying whenever they distracted him from his work. Finally the scanner let out a chiming noise, and a series of readouts were shown on a screen built into the side. The blue coat clad Irken read from them.

"..." He smiled. "Congratulations..." Panny shot up into a sitting position and held the Caterpillar's hand in a vice grip. "...you have twins."

...

Paneece fell back onto the bed and fainted.

It was at that point that The Caterpillar noticed a note taped to the side of the huge scanner and read it...

**Before you ask, the answer is yes. I, the Carlos went ahead and gave your new buck fuddy another widdle bundle of joy.**

**Enjoy fatherhood!**

**-The Carlos**

"How the hell does he keep getting out of his cell?" Kurt growled after reading the note.

Xxx

The Human/Blue Empire treaty had been drawn up quickly, and was uneventful for the Irkens. The humans however reported that celebrations were going on back home-along with much controversy by parts of humanity who would rather gun down any Irken they encountered. This was mostly from countries that had been decimated by Zim. Dib wisely chose to omit the fact that Zim was alive and well...and employed by the empire Humanity had just allied with.

The Treaty with the Holy Irken Empire went a lot smoother for all of the factions involved. The gentle nature of the Irkens and the fact that they showed a form of culture outside of warfare and science made them seem more attractive to the people of Earth. The Caterpillar did mention that some Irkens wished to explore Earth and if possible find willing candidates to mate with. But Paneece-once she was over the shock made it clear that if anybody forced themselves on a human they would have to deal with her...

Although when Skullene flashed a gun to the Irkens she had been addressing the message was clearly received by any who had paid Panny no mind. Within a few weeks travel would be set up between three points: Settlement A1, the Blue Empire border world of Splor III, and Mars. Transports would travel between these locations to exchange goods and ferry passengers who could travel to other worlds from there. The sudden lack of Shadow Fleets made it safer for the Blue Armada to strengthen the defences around Envon's empire.

As a result of Shadow's alarming withdrawal Tallest Red had pulled his own forces back to defend his borders. He would spend weeks trying to contact Shadow, and receive only a 'Tallest Shadow shall contact you when he wishes to' as a response from the Inquisitor who would escort him out of the palace and back to his ship.

For now there was what seemed to be a state of ceasefire between the three Irken super powers. The other races caught between these conflicts took time to recover and prepare for when the fighting began anew. People welcomed the Blue Irken vessels that would assist them...most of the time. Others such as the Planet Jackers would have nothing to do with Tallest Blue. They still preferred Red since he let them have any planets he had cleansed. Envon and surprisingly Shadow now had a habit of blasting their ships to pieces on sight if they were near inhabited worlds that had been affected by the constant battling.

The Veniran Empire was promising to take a more active role in the war when it restarted after it was learned that one of the nine heirs to the Veniran throne had been injured by a beast made by Shadow. Emperor Credaran was already mobilizing fleets and armies to deploy...and training his soldiers in how to kill Inquisitors in particular. The Vortians had remained officially neutral as always, but still passed Envon technology that proved useful against Red and Shadow. The Meekroobians were...somewhat willing to help Envon when Gary had appeared in their colony to find millions of survivors rebuilding the Meekroobian civilization.

Gaz returned to Earth briefly with her brother only to visit the grave of their father. After that she went back Zim at his new work station in Smeetery Alpha where she served a role as a bodyguard to him and chief of security. On the upside she now had the Game Slave model 18 to play with in her spare time. Zim became the head of Smeetery Development, and actually came to enjoy his job.

Panny chose to go to Settlement A1 until her smeets were born-at least so that she could decide whether or not she should stay there. Part of her wanted to leave so she would not interfere with their marriage by staying to raise her child. However the Caterpillar had an idea to get Panny to stay of her own free will...

Meanwhile Rik's team joined the Blue Empire officially. Rik spent time trying to learn how to use the powers of the body he now possessed, but he had no such luck yet. He and De Rien moved onto a small world that had been given to their new department: code named the Star Devil Division. His two sons, Ouri and Fren heard of their parents' reunion and rushed to the home world of the Star Devil base: a garden world that had been given the title Ser at De's request. It was named after an old friend from her time before she had been frozen for several thousand years.

Janie reunited with her husband, who finally abandoned the Crimson Empire in favour of Envon's rule. Tak on the other hand returned to Red after managing to escape from the transport the group had been taking. She was welcomed back and given a 'mission of great importance' almost immediately. Kronos and Dib held out hopes that she would come back to them.

Drosco and the Sheyi were forced to move out of other Irken factions and return to the Blue Empire when acts of violence were made against their sanctuaries. Luckily none were lost, and Envon made a point of assigning his personal agents to protect their sanctuaries within the Blue Empire. Drosco would always contact Envon for any more information regarding Shadow. He still hoped that he could find that remaining part of his lover within the super powered Tallest who opposed Envon.

Skullene, Grimrair and Rine travelled with a recovering Miyuki to Earth where they were promised sanctuary in the city of Bastion, which turned out to be a massive dome city on the moon. They decided to stay there while Miyuki underwent surgery at her own request to have her body returned to normal. Her two children and her grandson-who she had been glad to find out about spent weeks filling in over a century of events Miyuki had missed during her 'death'. Though annoyed with Zim for 'florping up another experiment' Miyuki held no ill will towards the Irken, but she was going to keep her distance from Smeetery Alpha.

Nick, White, Frequency and Gallas all remain in Shadow's service. Frequency recovered from the near fatal injury Grim had given him, but vanished for several weeks before returning. He said that he had 'gone to surf another wave for a while' and refused to elaborate. However White implied that he knew exactly what was meant by that. They are currently on standby and awaiting Shadow's order to eliminate his enemies...however Nick now makes some extra money by babysitting Hunter from time to time. Even in the Shadow Empire one can find joy and smiles.

They won't live happily ever after though...I doubt any of them will feel the same by the time everything is over. Carlos is the only one besides me who knows this...he knows that this is only the beginning of Rikalo's destiny. But he cannot tell, for not even Chaos can change the course of an entire universe. But he stays there, always watching from the background like I do...and waits for when he must step in to play his part...

I know that my time will come soon too...I always knew it would when Rikalo was born. He was amazing right from day one...

He reminds me of myself far too much. Falling in love, and taking revenge against his masters for costing him that love...

Yes...

My son is far too much like me, and that is exactly what worries me.

Xxx

End of Masked Contritence

I would like to thank all of the authors who contributed to this story. I am sorry to say not all of the OCs involved will return next time unless they have a part to play, but the adventure has barely taken its first step. Come back next time...

For the sequel to Masked Contritence, _**FACTORY 13**_


End file.
